Sean (Caleb Steinmeyer) witnessed the murder of his mother by a carjacker when he was a kid and, now a high school student, he obsesses about it. He scans mug shots at a local police precinct searching for his mother's killer. His early trauma has produced in him an anger that surfaces in acts of vigilantism against perpetrators of abuse and cruelty.
This movie is pretty much carried by Steinmeyer who in most respects appears as quiet and studious, but he skillfully gives evidence to Sean's underlying hostility. It is not too easy to pull that off I think. Thus, Sean's acts of sudden violence do not come as a big surprise. While it does not fly to have people taking the law into their own hands, Sean's acts will probably not meet with your total disapproval, appealing as they do to the vigilante in our dark sides. Much of the action is filmed at night, suitably dark to match the subject matter.
The supporting cast is uniformly good. Sean's life is complicated by his having a recovering alcoholic father (Bill Sage) who used to abuse his wife. The conflict between father and son is well played.
While Sean's background and response to it resemble Batman's, the movie is played pretty straight. However, in many of the altercations Sean gets badly beaten, but miraculously he seems to recover rather quickly and completely. Sean can get carried away in dispensing his personal justice. In one scene he has to be restrained from murder in response to a minor slight. The violence is overplayed in my opinion.
The ending is cleverly plotted and left me conflicted about what I felt about Sean.
This movie is pretty much carried by Steinmeyer who in most respects appears as quiet and studious, but he skillfully gives evidence to Sean's underlying hostility. It is not too easy to pull that off I think. Thus, Sean's acts of sudden violence do not come as a big surprise. While it does not fly to have people taking the law into their own hands, Sean's acts will probably not meet with your total disapproval, appealing as they do to the vigilante in our dark sides. Much of the action is filmed at night, suitably dark to match the subject matter.
The supporting cast is uniformly good. Sean's life is complicated by his having a recovering alcoholic father (Bill Sage) who used to abuse his wife. The conflict between father and son is well played.
While Sean's background and response to it resemble Batman's, the movie is played pretty straight. However, in many of the altercations Sean gets badly beaten, but miraculously he seems to recover rather quickly and completely. Sean can get carried away in dispensing his personal justice. In one scene he has to be restrained from murder in response to a minor slight. The violence is overplayed in my opinion.
The ending is cleverly plotted and left me conflicted about what I felt about Sean.