| Grace Point is small dirt town in the middle of nowhere, but it happens to be where father and son stop for gas and a washroom break on the way to Promise Valley, a rehab center. Brandon (John Owen Lowe) is a typical rich kid, gets into drugs and is still pissed off at the world after his father uses his wealth and privilege to get him out of jail and into rehab instead. | | 2023
Directed by: Rory Karpf
Screenplay by: Rory Karpf, Paul Russell Smith
Starring: John Owen Lowe, Andrew McCarthy
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Brandon’s father, Winston (Andrew McCarthy), also a typical rich asshole, likes wearing a super expensive, fancy watch as a status symbol to show off how rich he is. He then gets pissed off as less well to do people take too much of an interest in his watch, and then speeds off in his expensive car. Moments later, car trouble leads to real trouble, and the film quickly becomes a thriller with Brandon on the run from bad guys.
I really like the set-up to this film. It starts fast and interesting, you can see multiple interesting character dynamics (most involving the father, not surprising he’s played by the most accomplished actor) right off the bat. And even when the film changes face from a small town drama feel to an action thriller, it still fits and feels interesting. It’s an indie with limited characters in a limited setting, which is always a smart and effective way to utilize a low budget.
Problems start happening when the film appears to be nothing more than an action thriller with Brandon continuously on the run from random bad guys with no clear purpose (sure they have a motive, but they’re all pretty non-descript, and just random violent men). Brandon does meet one local who agrees to help him, Cutter (Jim Parrack). I love the demeanor of this character, but the non-stop platitudes that he speaks in becomes irritating.
Luckily this is really short movie because running from bad guys gets very boring quickly. It does however lead somewhere. The ending seems to come out of nowhere; my immediate reaction was frustration with a contrived twist. I believe it’s a predictable twist, however not likely to be predicted, which is arguably the best way to do it. I ultimately liked the ending though, it just took me a minute to come around on it, and it is probably going to be polarizing. I’m glad the film has something to say and it eventually led to a point. It also fits (the characters, but also the message): it tries to do something different in a film about taking a different approach to a common problem.
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