Being friends with someone who experienced the trauma of a child addicted to hard drugs, I found this movie totally believable. Mia Farrow gives an excellent performance as the mother asking "Where did I go wrong?" as all mothers do when a child, shows a serious lack of responsibility. Yes, a parent would be in denial, and take a "Not my child" attitude at first but coming to terms with the problem would make every effort to overcome it. This film has a more or less optimistic ending but the sad truth is that the majority of addicts tend to relapse after rehabilitation. The suppliers and enablers ought to be locked up under the supervision of their victims' mothers.

Julia Whalen as Zooey, a young girl who gets caught up in drugs. ..."everyone has them, Mom"..., she tells her mother (Mia Farrow) they help me study, then when I need to crash, after taking an exam.What is good about this film is it does not sugar-coat or deny the reality. Zooey ends up in the ER; her mother finally realizes the extent of her daughter's problem.Cliff DeYoung, a familiar face as the father, who is ineffectual. His daughter stays over one night, when he has some anonymous girlfriend over. He and Farrow are divorced; he tries to placate his daughter. After being grounded without driving or cell phone privileges, her father buys her a new cell phone she can use it in her car.This film adequately shows the predicament parents have today; while not wanting to be the "bad guy" some parents may overcompensate and give the kid whatever he or she wants; this is no solution either.Julia Whelan is very good as Zooey, not overplayed; just another kid wanting to fit in with friends, at first. This film shows that this is a very serious problem, with no easy solutions. 8/10.

This story has been done again and again. Troubled teen gets depressed, takes drugs, goes into rehab, recovers... blah blah. The mother in film is pretty unbelievable, and a hypocrite as well. How can she get mad at her daughter for taking drugs when she does it herself?? The dad was pathetic, he cared more about himself than his ex wife and daughter. The I saw so many mistakes in continuity in the whole 30 minutes I saw of it and it was enough to put me off! Did anyone else notice how when she vomited and passed out she had spew all over her mouth and when she was passed out in the car she was totally clean? And how on earth did she get from the hospital into rehab so fast??? The emergency people in the hospital were pretty stupid, who on earth just shakes someone and asks if they can hear them?? Didn't they think her mom had already triedthat??? DUH. Don't see this film unless you like really crappy movies.

Zoey Carter (Julia Whelan) is the beloved sixteen years old daughter of Marcia Carter (Mia Farrow), who has recently divorced from her husband Larry Carter (Cliff De Young). Zoey feels too much the separation of her parents, and has Kayla (Katharine Isabelle) as her best friend. While temporarily working in the hairdresser saloon of her friend Mimi (Caroline Aaron), Marcia is trying to find a job to support her family. She is very proud of her daughter, who seems to be a very responsible teenager, since she is a good student, she has her own car and she voluntarily works in an old folk's home. However, Zoey has a hidden personality, and she eventually uses drugs, stealing pills and money from her parents to buy weed. When Zoey meets the handsome student and drug dealer Ron (Michael Coristine), she is induced by him to shoplift to buy heavy drugs with him. She fails in her trial, and the guy gives free drugs to addict her. When she has an OD, she is sent to a psychiatric treatment with Dr. Mike Harper (Andrew McCarthy). "The Secret Life of Zoey" is a good and very real dramatic story that may happen with teenagers in any family. The cast is very well selected, with Mia Farrow excellent as usual, in the role of a mother that becomes lost when she finds the other side of the personality of her daughter. Julia Whelan is amazing, with her angelical face, in the role of a teenager with a secret behavior on the back of her mother. The rendition of her character in the end of the story makes an optimistic end, but I have nothing against it. There is one particular dialog in this movie that I liked a lot between Marcia and Mike. Marcia wants to know her mistake in raising Zoey, and Mike replies that it is among ten thousand others mistakes. A great truth in a non-perfect world in a movie with a good message. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Vida Secreta de Uma Adolescente" ("The Secret Life of an Adolescent")