White Oleander (2002) - Synopsis
After her uncompromising but seductive mother Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer) kills her boyfriend for abandoning her, fifteen-year-old Astrid (Alison Lohman) witnesses her mother’s arrest. It’s an event that will change the course of both their lives. Suddenly, young Astrid is on her own. Shuttled through a series of foster homes (and foster mothers Robin Wright Penn and Renée Zellweger), Astrid struggles to master the techniques she needs if she’s to survive the unyielding and often harsh world she’s thrust into. Astrid tries desperately to forge her own identity within her ever-changing environment. From behind bars, Ingrid’s powerful influence is the only constant in Astrid’s life. For good, and for bad… In the three years that mark her passage from child to adult, Astrid must learn the value of independence and courage, rage and forgiveness, love and survival, to earn her freedom from the past.
