Dave kills his alcoholic father to end the cycle of violence in the house. But when his little brother Tom confesses to the murder and goes to jail, Dave turns to petty crime to pay the bills.
Acting
Tom Everett Scott's quiet, festering guilt is magnetic.
Direction
Drilling makes suffocating small-town dread feel lived-in.
Writing
The confession scene — devastating economy of words.
Director
Eric Drilling
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Eric Drilling's only feature; he pivoted to commercials and never looked back, which somehow fits the film's themes of abandoned potential.
The 1998 release buried it between 'Rushmore' and 'The Thin Red Line' — but its exploration of working-class masculinity in collapse predates the indie boom's fascination with 'dirtbag' protagonists by two decades.
US
