Nicole Stanton (Eva Allen) is the ultimate manipulator.  She marries for money, seduces her husband's attorney to get a controlling interest in the family stocks, double crosses her stepdaughter, and plays around with the hired help to satisfy her whims of desire.  Watch out!  This lady is a bitch and a half, chewing up people's lives like a piranha feasting on flesh and bone.

To The Top isn't really a "sequel" to The Nicole Stanton Story; it's part two of the same film, released separately, in similar fashion as the Hollywood epic Three/Four Musketeers.  Same cast, director, and most of all, high quality found in both.  Nicole Stanton should become the yardstick unto which all serious adult dramas are compared.

The sex scenes, for the most part, are well-conceived and heated.  Although it's a minor complaint, the first sexual encounter between Dan, the attorney (Joey Silvera) and his wife (Nina Hartley) is totally superfluous to the story, and slows things down considerably.  This valuable time could have been spent explaining just why, near the very end of the film, Nicole jumps on a chartered jet to check out the "mystery business" she purchased in Amsterdam, which turns out to be a whorehouse.  The film ends too abruptly as Nicole participates in the orgy and suddenly announces that she owns the place.  Perhaps a third film would answer this question.

To The Top is a strong film to recommend on the retail level for couples.  Randy West is a conniving, greedy pimp, and both Leslie and Silvera are ruthlessly manipulated by Eva Allen into pussy-whipped shadows of their former selves.  All three veteran actors are excellent in these roles; particularly Silvera.  Allen is less sure of herself.  (The role called for the experience of Annette Haven or Veronica Hart, but that is only a pipe dream).  Allen does what she can with the material, and finally shines towards the end where she bullies Leslie with sexual taunts when he, as the husband, simply wants to communicate.

All in all, the second Nicole Stanton is a terrific adult film, and an experience everyone should have.  Support this kind of entertainment, and surely more will follow!