Naman Shrestha
Lifetime’s ‘Dawn’ is a series of four movies that centers upon the life of Dawn Longchamp and how everything she holds dear gets taken away from her. Growing up in a regular and humble household with a devoted father, Ormand Longchamp, and elder brother, Jimmy, her life turns upside down when she comes across the unexpected and terrible truth about the people she grew up with. Following the revelation, Dawn finds herself trying to fit into a new family, but with time, she realizes that this family harbors some dark secrets that could make a significant impact on her life.
While the first two parts of the film series were helmed by Linda-Lisa Hayter, the other two were directed by Jacquie Gould. Owing to the number of seemingly true-to-life underlying and apparent themes, such as family secrets and complications in household relationships, it is understandable why many viewers might question its authenticity. If you find yourself in the same boat, let’s explore it in detail, shall we?
Dawn Movies Are Based on a Novel Series
‘Dawn’ movies are not based on a true story. Instead, it is inspired by ‘The Cutler Family’ novel series by V.C. Andrews. As a result, the screenwriters — Gregory Small, Richard Blaney, and Alison Lea Bingeman — took inspiration from the novels and made the most of their creative minds, brilliant penmanship, and experience to come up with the intriguing and realistic screenplay for the Lifetime movie series.
Instances of complicated familial relationships and bad blood between families are not unheard of in real life, which is one of the reasons why some of you might find the themes and elements included in the ‘Dawn’ movies true to life. Although in a less dramatic scenario, we all have heard about complicated families or are a part of one. Apart from this, there is another reason why you might find the subject matter of the movies familiar: the same themes and elements have been explored in numerous films and TV shows over the years.
One of the aptest examples has to be that of the Lannisters and the Starks in the popular fantasy drama show ‘Game of Thrones.’ Also based on a series of novels titled ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ by George R. R. Martin, the show revolves around nine families, two of which are the Starks and Lannisters, who indulge in political and literal warfare against one another to gain control over the lands of the Westeros and sit on the Iron Throne.
The complicated relationship between and within the family members of the House of Lannister and the House of Stark is reminiscent of the familial relationship portrayed in the ‘Dawn’ movies through the Cutlers and the Longchamps. For instance, similar to the latter two, the Lannisters and Starks also harbor some dark secrets about their respective dynasties. As you can see, several similarities are bound to make you form connections between shows focusing on such family dynamics. All in all, despite the Lifetime film series including several realistic themes, it doesn’t change that they are not rooted in reality.
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