Guilty at 17

Guilty at 17

Year: 2014

Runtime: 86 mins

Language: English

Director: Anthony Lefresne

DramaMystery

A teenager becomes overwhelmed with guilt after her lies to support a friend’s claim of sexual assault lead to the accused teacher’s suicide.

Tense
Bittersweet ending
Emotionally heavy
High intensity
Steady pacing
Moderate complexity

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Guilty at 17 (2014)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Guilty at 17 (2014). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Local high school, Surrounding town

Set mainly around a suburban high school and its surrounding town, the setting centers on the relationships between teachers, students, and families. The school becomes a pressure cooker where rumors shape lives and decisions. Intermittent scenes move to the local hospital and back to Uganda, highlighting the broader world beyond campus.

🎓 School 🏙️ Suburban 🧭 Community

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 09:43

Main Characters – Guilty at 17 (2014)

Meet the key characters of Guilty at 17 (2014), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Gilbert Adkins (Rob Stewart)

A devoted high school chemistry teacher whose thirty-year career is built on trust and steadiness. He is abruptly arrested after being accused of harassment, forcing him into a public, legal crisis that tests his character. Throughout, Gilbert remains convinced of his innocence, choosing calm, rational responses under mounting pressure.

🎓 Teacher 🛡️ Trustworthy 🧠 Rational 💪 Determined

Devon Cavanor (Chloe Rose)

A bright student whose charm masks a willingness to manipulate people to improve her grades and secure a promised reward from her father. She convinces a peer to back up her lie, setting off the chain of events that jeopardizes Gilbert’s career. As the truth unravels, Devon’s actions reveal a capacity for deception that impacts many lives.

🃏 Manipulative 🎭 Drama 🎯 Ambitious 💰 Reward

Traci Scott (Erin Sanders)

A student who initially becomes part of Devon’s lie, backing the false claim to protect herself. Distressed by the unraveling story, she moves toward honesty as the truth surfaces. Her evolving stance highlights the moral conflict between self-preservation and telling the truth for the sake of others.

🤝 Loyal 🗣️ Witness 🧭 Honest

June Gailey (Alex Paxton-Beesley)

Gilbert’s daughter who travels from Uganda to confront the crisis and later goes undercover as a substitute teacher to uncover what happened. Her commitment to family and truth drives the investigation forward. June’s actions blend personal resolve with investigative tenacity.

👩‍👧 Family 🕵️ Investigative 🧭 Courageous

Jay Allerson (Zack Peladeau)

Devon’s boyfriend who becomes entangled in a plan to sabotage Gilbert and steal exam questions. His criminal history and willingness to escalate the scheme culminate in a fatal act, illustrating how far deception will go and the peril it creates for everyone involved.

🕳️ Criminal ⚖️ Crime 🗡️ Violence

Don Scott (Michael Woods)

Traci’s father, who urges his daughter to tell the truth and challenges the lies surrounding Gilbert. He embodies a protective paternal role and acts as a voice of reason amid escalating tension. Don’s actions reflect the moral stakes of the case within the family circle.

👨‍👧 Father 🗣️ Voice of Reason ⚖️ Authority

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 09:43

Major Themes – Guilty at 17 (2014)

Explore the central themes of Guilty at 17 (2014), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🕵️ Truth vs Lies

Memory and perception collide as the truth of what happened is questioned by students, parents, and faculty. Devon, Traci, Gilbert, and others become entangled in a web of deception that tests what constitutes credible evidence. The story uses mounting scrutiny and courtroom tension to show how truth can be obscured by motive and manipulation. Ultimately, the film argues that truth emerges through persistence, accountability, and the courage to admit lies.

⚖️ Justice

Justice in the film is framed as the pursuit of truth rather than vengeance or punishment. A supposed suicide note, a sedative overdose, and a hidden conspiracy recast the stakes as murder and moral responsibility. Undercover investigations and confessions push for accountability, even at great personal cost. The denouement restores Gilbert’s reputation posthumously, underscoring that true justice can come late but remains essential.

👪 Family

Family dynamics drive the drama, with June returning from Uganda to help clear her father’s name and protect the family’s legacy. The bond between Gilbert and his daughter, and Don’s protective stance, reveal how loyalty can clash with truth and public opinion. The story explores how family obligations intersect with ethical choices under intense pressure. Love, duty, and the desire to safeguard loved ones complicate every decision.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 09:43

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Movies about moral consequences like Guilty at 17

Stories where a single deception spirals into devastating, irreversible consequences.If you were captivated by the heavy emotional fallout in Guilty at 17, these movies explore similar themes of lies with devastating consequences. They often feature high-stakes moral dilemmas, intense guilt, and a search for redemption in the wake of a life-altering falsehood.

guilt-riddentensemorally grayanxiousheavysuspensefulgrim

Narrative Summary

These narratives typically begin with a pivotal deception that seems manageable but quickly escalates beyond control. The plot follows the unraveling of the lie, the mounting pressure on the liar, and the collateral damage inflicted on innocent people, leading to a climax centered on confession and the heavy price of truth.

Why These Movies?

They are grouped by their shared exploration of morality under pressure, a tense and heavy atmosphere, and a central character arc defined by overwhelming guilt and the struggle for a semblance of justice or personal absolution.

Anxious investigative TV movies like Guilty at 17

Methodically paced television movies where a single event prompts a tense inquiry.For viewers who enjoyed the steady, suspenseful build of Guilty at 17, this collection highlights similar TV dramas. These films use a central crime or moral dilemma to explore character psychology, family loyalty, and the anxious process of uncovering a painful truth.

suspensefultenseanxiousinvestigativemethodicalmelancholicfamily drama

Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a catalyzing event—often a crime or accusation—that disrupts a community. The story then follows a methodical investigation, intercut with the personal dramas of those connected, leading to a climactic revelation that resolves the mystery but leaves emotional scars.

Why These Movies?

These movies share a specific format and feel: they are TV-length dramas with a steady, methodical pace, a dominant tense and anxious mood, and a plot structure built around unraveling a secret that has profound personal consequences for the characters.

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Guilty at 17 Summary

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Guilty at 17 Summary

Guilty at 17 Timeline

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Guilty at 17 Timeline

Guilty at 17 Spoiler-Free Summary

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Guilty at 17 Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Guilty at 17

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