A desolate place for a denouement.
(2020) Thriller (Random) Francisco Ovalie, Katlynne Grace, Gary Alan Kauffman, Natalie Alexander, Robert Miano, Silvia Spross. Directed by Riz Story
“O what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” Walter Scott wrote those words in 1806 and they are as true now as they were then. Perhaps, even more so.
A young girl (Grace) is jogging in the woods when she is tackled and restrained by a masked man. That man turns out to be Juan (Ovalie), a career criminal and the girl turns out to be Emily, the daughter of corrupt CEO Donald Meyer (Kauffman). But all is not as it seems; it turns out that Juan and Donald are in cahoots and intend to bilk Emily’s mom Christina (Alexander) for the ransom money. But who is in bed with who? And who is that elegant man (Miano) really? I’m sure you have a pretty good idea, given the film’s title.
This is a movie that has all sorts of twists and turns – perhaps, too many. Everybody in the movie appears to have an angle, and the only really honest one is Juan who at least is honest about being a criminal, but as it turns out everyone in this movie is stabbing someone in the back and these twists become a little too old and by the time the final one takes place, the viewer is almost numb to it.
There are some supernatural elements to the movie which make this as much a horror movie as a crime thriller, but Story probably would have had a better movie if he had eliminated the supernatural elements – the film’s advertising gives one of the larger twists away, although it isn’t something even casual movie fans shouldn’t be able to figure out well in advance. The constant course reversals detract from some decent performances and what might have been an edge-of-the-seat thriller. What we end up with is a fairly decent supernatural thriller that collapses under the weight of its own plot twists.
REASONS TO SEE: The cast delivers on some surprisingly strong performances, and Story creates a reasonably creepy atmosphere.
REASONS TO AVOID: Overuses plot twists.
FAMILY VALUES: There is profanity, violence, sexual content and a scene of rape.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: In addition to being a filmmaker, Story is also a musician, record producer, author, naturalist and activist.
BEYOND THE THEATER: Amazon, AppleTV, Google Play, Microsoft, Vudu
CRITICAL MASS: As of 10/22/20: Rotten Tomatoes: No score yet; Metacritic: No score yet.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Angel Heart
FINAL RATING: 5/10
NEXT: Martin Eden
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