A man walking into a diner has been the starting point for many a thriller/neo-noir, and that's pretty much the case here. Viewers should recognise Jim Cummings as the main character, a knife salesman, and they should be ready to see how the plot revolves around him when pieces start falling into place. That's if he survives beyond the opening scenes, of course. Bad things happen to good people in the world of noir, and good people aren't always as good as they seem.
Cummings plays one part here, but there are many other characters onscreen alongside him. Charlotte (Jocelin Donahue) works in the diner. Vernon (Faizon Love) works at the nearby gas station and motel, but he cannot refuel any vehicles until the delivery arrives to replenish the empty pumps. Travis (Nicholas Logan) and Beau (Richard Brake) are a couple of patrons who seem like wrong 'uns, and not just because one of them is played by Brake. They've robbed a bank, which makes it very unlucky for everyone else that they cannot just get their car tank filled up enough to make a getaway.
This is the feature debut from writer-director Francis Galluppi, who has been honing his craft in a number of shorts and music videos helmed over the past seven years (including two early works that, from the plot summaries I read, seem to contain kernels of ideas more fully developed here). Whether it comes to fruition or not, Galluppi is currently tapped to direct one of the upcoming Evil Dead projects, which perhaps gives you an idea of the skillset he displays.
Galluppi puts everything together well, but his biggest strength is arguably self-control that stops him from having to fill every space. The 90-minute runtime is perfect for the fairly tight scenario we see playing out. Dialogue is sharp and loaded with pertinent information, but there are also moments of quiet tension that say just as much via the visuals.
It also helps that the cast are uniformly fantastic. Cummings is a great choice for his role, bringing the slight nerviness that he has done so well in a number of previous movies (including his own directorial outings), and Donahue is someone you hope to see beat the odds when it comes to surviving a snowballing situation like this one. Logan and Brake are believable, the latter particularly so (it's his gift), and Love excels in his small supporting role, as do Gene Jones, Ryan Masson, Sierra McCormick, Jon Proudstar, Michael Abbott Jr. (as the local Sheriff), and Connor Paolo (a deputy). Horror genre fans will also appreciate cameos from Barbara Crampton and Alex Essoe.
There are a couple of well-chosen songs on the soundtrack to complement what I am going to loosely refer to as set-pieces, things weave left and right on the way to a final act that eventually becomes as apparently inevitable as it is satisfying, and the whole thing is so well-constructed and entertaining that it marks Galluppi out as a hell of a talent to keep an eye on.
8/10
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