Many people look down on prostitutes, whether it be police officers, adults, teenage kids, but in truth, how many prostitutes out there just started out as normal kids from loving homes, who got drawn into this horrible way to earn a living by charismatic men who turn out to care about nothing but money? Diana, an eighteen-year-old with a bright future, has just broken up with her jerky boyfriend, and meets an older guy at a rave party, A.J. (age 23). It's love at first sight, until her strict mom, Gayle, finds out that they had sex in her house. Diana, furious at her mom's opinion, moves in with A.J. while telling her mom she's at her dad's place, and vice-versa. She becomes a stripper, later a prostitute, and one morning, Gayle gets the worst news of her life... her daughter is dead.
With the help of Diana's friend April, a kind and caring police officer and her ex-husband, Gayle tries to uncover who murdered Diana, and why she'd choose to be with A.J., who turned out to be a pimp with many young girls working for him.
Why My Daughter? deserves better reviews. Unlike the usually cliché topics in Lifetime Movies (teen pregnancy, cutting, anorexia, etc.) Why My Daughter? addresses an issue most people don't want to think about. While solving Diana's murder, Gayle also learns that the world of prostitution is full of sleazy people, but also decent people just trying to make money in a harsh environment. April, Diana's stripper friend, with the help of Gayle is reunited with her own mom. Gayle also meets Charlie, the owner of a strip club who turns out to care a lot that Diana was murdered and offers to testify against A.J. (I don't think I'll be able to watch The Secret World of Alex Mack again though without thinking that Lars, same actor, is a chemical engineer by day, strip club owner by night). The soundtrack fit the movie very well, the acting was overall really good and it raises awareness of an issue that, despite the film's release date, it still on the rise today. It's an amazing and thought-provoking film, definitely worth seeing.
