Director: Brandon Prewitt
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Plot:
Desperate to finish their project, a group of friends head out to a local convenience store to shoot a scene for their class, but when a well-meaning ex-con stumbles onto the scene and misinterprets their staged robbery for the real thing intervenes and forces them all to be bound together by the fateful incident.
Review:
This was a pretty solid and enjoyable thriller. The opening sequence with the ill-fated robbery and sentencing gets this going nicely while setting up the fantastic subplot about the guy getting out of prison and wanting to reconnect with his family and friends now that he’s out of prison. As well, the secondary subplot about the filming of the sequence at the store, complete with the usual mishaps and flubs that accompany a low-budget shoot before the whole thing turns upside down in the split-second misunderstanding that turns the remains half into a tense, thrilling experience. The various reaction, breakdowns and attempts to get free to put it all behind them serve this one incredibly well providing this with the main selling point as to how this gets resolved, making for quite a lot to like overall.
This one does emerge with a few minor drawbacks. The biggest issue here is the seeming randomness of the incidents bringing everyone together, which seems to come out of nowhere. There’s very little motivation for why he ends up at the market to misunderstand everything as everything before then doesn’t really point to a need to show up with a desire to provide a better role model for his daughter. As well, some of the individual hang-ups about the holding hostage come off somewhat unrealistic, relying far more on him being an unlikeable prick holding them there for plot reasons than undergoing any kind of rational behavior that drives these kinds of efforts. That can result in some rather jarring moments at times where it feels more manufactured for the story but beyond these minor distractions, there’s quite a lot to like here.
Overview: ***.5/5
A very fine and enjoyable low-budget indie thriller that works a great idea with plenty of suspense and tension, the film is quite enjoyable even with a few minor lapses in believability which is really the only issue. This is certainly worthwhile for fans of this low-budget style of filmmaking or those looking for a solid thriller, while those who aren’t really fans of this style or format should heed caution.
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