Director: Christopher Wesley Moore
Year: 2019
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Following a series of brutal murders, a teen fighting for equality in her small-town of perceived bigotry with her friend finds the perfect opportunity to take credit for the work of a psychotic killer around town, but when the real killer targets her she finds herself forced into an unwinnable position to get away alive.
Review:
This was a decent enough if problematic genre effort. What manages to hold this one up are the few-and-far-between notions of this one being a straightforward, simplistic slasher effort. The attacks here are quite fun, with the initial ambush on the gay couple around their house by striking the straggler first before launching a more sustained strike against the others inside is a great start to this one as the flickering lights create a sense of tension that’s helped along by the paranoia about the killer potentially around and the slow walk-through of the house that features several shocking and gruesome kills that are integrated nicely alongside the attempts to fight back. The shorter ambushes against her friends and other co-workers in town are just as enjoyable with the shock attacks and generally brutal kills that arise out of it generate some tense moments as well.
That helps remarkably with the film’s incredibly fine acting here. Meredith Mohler as Callie is a fantastic lead, taking a cringy and unlikeable character into the highlight realm with a fine performance here. Despite how one feels about the character she plays and the turn she takes over the course of the film, there’s a fine performance at the center of the film with her hitting every note possible in the overbearing social-justice-warrior cannon here. Pushy, confrontational and demanding to the point of feeling like she’s being contradictory about her requests which turns nicely around into her self-centered persona in the second half, this is a truly enjoyable and fantastic performance. Jesse Dalton as her friend Ian is another fine choice, turning from a meek follower to her craziness to a more forceful and outspoken individual who is a fantastic foil for everything. Combined with the final girl role-reversal twist present, these hold this one up overall.
The film is held down by several factors. The biggest issue is the absolutely troublesome and utterly infuriating main lead who manages to make this one next to impossible to get behind in the early stages of the film. An aggressive, controversial busy-body in the cliched notion of every social-justice-warrior who believes it’s her duty to fight for people that have no voice when they’re too blinded by the notion of joining a cause to realize that they’re fighting for issues that aren’t important to the people she’s fighting for, the main lead is a bit much for some to take.as these seem to be her only qualities. The change into being a crazed, attention-seeking hypocrite that changes her appearance into a more feminine and attractive while forgetting her entire moral crusade just because she’s getting attention is believable and rather enjoyable here since it comes about as a result of what she wanted the whole time and completing the hypocrite circle she started.
As well, there’s also the film’s egregious and unnecessary overlong running time. There’s no need for the film to go on just shy of two hours as too much here doesn’t need to be shown. Not only are the constant attempts at getting equality for others or talking down to everyone else around here annoying and troublesome, the random incidents of the couple going around the town trying to find new things to inspire outrage about what’s going on in the town don’t have much interest going on. With visits to a brothel, constant iterations of social media pandering that comes about after she gets attacked and survives to the pointless interrogation scenes between her and the authority figures in her life, there’s almost nothing here about the random killer striking until so late in the film that it feels quite underwhelming when it finally becomes more prominent after not being a part of this for so long instead of this other build-up. Otherwise, this one isn’t too bad.
Overview: **.5/5
While the film is somewhat tough to get through with its overbearing lead character and overlong running time, the fact that it works when it sticks to it’s main goal keeps this one watchable enough that it’s not a complete waste and drowns out the message at the heart of the film. Give this a shot if you’re looking for a modern take on a slasher film or this sounds intriguing enough, while those turned off by what’s present here should heed extreme caution.
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