Courtney Howard // Film Critic
LAST STRAW
Not Yet Rated, 1 hour and 21 minutes
Directed by: Alan Scott Neal
Starring: Jessica Belkin, Taylor Kowalski, Joji Otani-Hansen, Jeremy Sisto, Christopher M. Lopes, Michael Giannone, Tara Raani, Glen Gould
Director Alan Scott Neal’s LAST STRAW opens on a helluva attention grabber: it’s scene of bloody carnage, set at the dawn of a new day after a hellacious night on the job – a reckoning – for a roadside diner waitress at her wit’s end. As we hear the jukebox running and see blood strewn all over a usually sterile scene, a 9-1-1 recording plays from a distraught caller alerting authorities to the trauma on display. We then witness the clock turned back 24 hours to what precipitated this murderous melee. While the events leading up to this catastrophic evening contain palpable power, some of its narrative conceits don’t quite justify the means, leading to a bland home invasion-style horror.
20-year-old Nancy (Jessica Belkin) is feeling aimless and frustrated. She’s grieving the death of her mother, psychologically substituting the care and love she had for her mother, putting it into the upkeep on her mom’s ailing convertible car. She’s caught in a complicated state of limbo, hanging out with high schoolers – specifically her bestie Tabitha (Tara Raani) and platonic pal/ co-worker Bobby (Joji Otani-Hansen), who not-so-secretly loves her. She’s recently been promoted to manager at her father’s (Jeremy Sisto) highway-adjacent greasy spoon, but doesn’t particularly like the job. It’s a nuisance to deal with disrespectful staff and condescending customers, who ogle her body and challenge her authority. Topping things off, she’s also just found out she’s pregnant and isn’t thrilled about it.
However, things change for Nancy once a bunch of dirtbag dirt-bike riders descend on the diner disrupting what little peace she’s had in her day. Though she’s tough and stares down adversity, the threatening encounter – one involving gory roadkill – rattles her nerves. She then displaces her anger on puppy-dog-eyed Bobby, busboy Petey (Christopher M. Lopes), lead cook Jake (Taylor Kowalski), and fry cook Coop (Michael Giannone), firing them at the start of the night shift. She’s resigned to a quiet night alone, dancing around a disco-lit diner like it’s her riot grrl bedroom. But little does she know how dead the place will be, especially when a group of vengeful masked hooligans show up with a kill count in tow.
Neal demonstrates great visual dexterity, setting the scene and giving it a nuanced, textured profile. In concert with cinematographer Andrey Nikolaev, they deliver solid, subtle work, shifting the color palette with an almost imperceptible to nudge to make audiences feel a slight unease in the daylight and a prickly edge at night. A sharp, concerted effort is made linking peace and violence not only in screenwriter Taylor Sardoni’s narrative with the characters of Nancy and Jake’s relationship dynamic and connected grief providing part of that juxtaposition, but also in the locations. From the serenity of the nearby fields to the mundanity of diner life, both appear different when threats of violence occur.
Yet the path towards these filmmakers’ finale hits more than a few speed bumps. Lazy genre trappings and tropes dictate motivations behind the Sherriff (Glen Gould) delivering vital information to Nancy outdoors versus indoors and also when one of the harassers takes off a mask versus when he doesn’t. Reluctant members of the pack terrorizing Nancy have ample opportunities to flee and confoundingly don’t. It’s contrived that Nancy’s concerned father fails to check up on her until morning.
Worst of all, the filmmakers hobble the picture with a maddening twist half way through that severely detracts from narrative momentum and their innovative, interesting portrait of an unlikeable final girl. Commentary on toxic masculinity is ham-handed at best. Nancy’s clashes with rude, sexist men show some insightful depth, however, these filmmaker’s sentiments fumble in ludicrous fashion when showing Jake’s embodiment of the terrible trait, which isn’t the least bit compelling.
Grade: C-
LAST STRAW played Sitges Film Festival on October 6 and 7. It also played Beyond Fest on October 8.
