CINEMANIA:

Chameleon (Marcus Mizelle, USA, 2019)

Drawing on the conventions of crime/thriller genre, and deploying enough nifty plot shifts to keep the audience on its toes, Chameleon keeps us guessing until the final frame. In spite of its shoestring budget, the film has top end production values, and compelling performances from each of its leads. Chameleon is a fine piece of entertainment.

The film follows the struggles of a newly released ex-con named Patrick (Joel Hogan) as he tries to follow through on his promise to walk the straight and narrow upon his release. Unfortunately, this promise conflicts with another he made to his former cellmate and prison protector Dolph (Donald Prabatah).

Trauma Therapy (Tyler Graham Pavey, USA, 2019)

Trauma Therapy is a purported thriller wherein four people of various levels of dysfunction agree to spend a weekend with oh so cutely-named Tovin Maven, a self-help maven, in a remote cabin deep in the nameless woods.

Human Capital (Marc Meyers, USA, 2019)

Mainstream films in America often struggle when it comes to portraying class divides, not because it is hard to do so, but because those in charge of getting films seen are loath to honestly examine how for most people the American dream is a total nightmare. They have determined that social truths that run counter to the Horatio Alger mythology are a real downer and won't put butts in the seats.

The Riot Act (USA, Devon Parks, 2018)

In The Riot Act, a murder in a small frontier town leads to the haunting of the murderer, town patriarch Dr. Willard Pearrow (Brett Cullen). Other than being the town doctor, Pearrow also owns the local Opera House, and it is in the meeting of the theatrical with the supernatural that the film finds some interesting ground to tread.

Ophelia (Claire McCarthy, UK, 2018)

Even for those who have never read Shakespeare's play, the story of Hamlet has seeped into the collective unconscious enough that the key plot points are at the very least familiar. A brooding Danish prince spends the better part of the play plagued by indecision. He suspects his father was murdered by his uncle Claudius, who in turn has quickly married Hamlet's mother and seized the throne.

The Outsider (Timothy Woodward Jr., USA, 2019)

"A man who desires revenge should dig two graves." (unknown)

Revenge flicks and westerns are a natural fit. Both play on the American myth of the lone wolf, both generally endorse the notion that violence in the service of justice is acceptable, and both usually involve one good man taking on many bad ones. The Outsider, written by Sean Ryan and directed by Timothy Woodward Jr., fits comfortably within these boundaries.