Chris Faulisi directs this dark film about an ex-con who is forced to face his past when those touched by his alleged crimes try to take justice into their own hands. Randy Spence, who could easily body-double for Christian Bale, plays ex-con Morgan very well. Upon his release he is set up in a small apartment and he tries to get some semblance of a life going. It doesn't take very long before he finds himself at the business end of a bullet, but this is just how things get started.

This film isn't perfect but it does get better as it goes. Establishing the story seems to take much longer than it should, as though writers Robinson and Faulisi seem to feel the audience might not clue in on details early. Adding to the drag is a non-linear exposition for the first half of the film which I found only distracts from what is already a perfectly good script. I started getting confused on the sequence of events and I think telling it straight-up would have been more effective. Forget about a traditional three-act narrative.. if it's in there I had trouble telling the beginning from the middle.

Fortunately the film makes up for an unbalanced start with an excellent last half. Without spoiling too much, the gist is his three new friends plan to invite Morgan out for a camping weekend in the woods. What Morgan doesn't know is that the trio are the family of the woman he was convicted for raping, and they plan on burying him out there. One is the particularly disturbed Rich, played by Shawn Mahoney with the creepy power of a sociopath. He's the husband of the victim who's inactions in the past may have lead to the inciting incident. Justin Morck is the more sympathetic Shephard, torn between a desire to see justice done for his sister and his sense of morality. It doesn't help when Morgan gradually reveals his humanity to him, generating more internal conflict. He gets the juiciest role in my opinion, since that conflict makes him the most human. The last of the three is family friend and family man Dustyn, played by Will Brunson who you may know from The Chappelle Show. He seems a little slower than the others, perhaps out of fear towards Morgan, or fear of what he could lose if things go wrong; he's the only one with a family and kid at home.

Without revealing their true identities at the campsite, the three try to coax a confession out of Morgan before they do the deed. As Shephard gets to know Morgan, Rich becomes more and more antagonistic towards the criminal and the tension is excellent. You just can't tell when things will blow up. Morgan is uneasy the whole time, these three are acting strange and there are clues abound, but can he put it together in time?

I can recommend this film to those who enjoy crime drama, but casual moviegoers may find it a tad slow to start and a tad long to finish. That being said, I still think Faulisi has done a good job directing this and it's not without real feeling, hence it's worth checking out if it's available to you.

Jon Ashby