Dying to Belong (1997) Reviews

Future Oscar winner Hilary Swank gives an excellent account of herself in this made-for-TV movie as Lisa Connors, a college student who is pressured into pledging for the campus' most prestigious sorority by her ambitious mother (Isabella Hoffman). Among the other pledges is the desperately lonely and insecure Shelby Blake (Jenna von Oy), who, like Lisa, is forced to endure unspeakable humiliations during the hazing process. When Shelby dies in a fall from the college clock tower, her death is declared a suicide, but Lisa doesn't buy this verdict (nor does the viewing audience, who knows that Shelby was killed following the orders of snobbish sorority girl Drea Davenport [Sarah Chalke]). At the risk of her own reputation and academic future, Lisa embarks upon a crusade to uncover the truth behind Shelby's demise, making powerful enemies all along the way. Originally an "NBC World Premiere Movie," Dying to Belong first aired February 24, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi