DETAINED
(director/writer: Felipe Mucci; screenwriter: Jeremy Palmer; cinematographer: Dennis Zenatta; editor: Marc Sedacka; music: Matthew James; cast: Abbie Cornish (Rebecca Kamen), Laz Alonso (Detective Avery), John Patrick Amedori (Robert Audrey), Moon Bloodgood (Detective Moon), Justin H. Min (Isaac Barsi), Breeda Wool (Sarah James), Silas Weir Mitchell (Sullivan), Josefine Lindegaard (Jess), Bernardo de Paula (Agent Lerner); Runtime: 97; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Ryan Scaringe; Kinogo Pictures/Quiver Distribution/VOD; 2024)
“A twisty indie crime thriller.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A suspenseful, low-budget B-film, in the form of a twisty indie crime thriller. It’s directed by Felipe Mucci (“Absurdities of the Mundane”/”Two Deaths of Henry Baker”), who co-writes it with Jeremy Palmer.
Following a bloodbath prologue, the enigmatic and bruised Rebecca (Abbie Cornish) wakes up at mid-night in a dilapidated police station undergoing renovations, in its interrogation room, with no memory of how she got there. The police detained her after a hit and run incident, where she blacked out and supposedly was drunk when she killed a cyclist. She was with a passenger she met at the bar named Robert (John Patrick Amedori), who possibly drugged her.
Rebecca‘s being questioned by Detective Avery (Laz Alonso) and Detective Moon (Moon Bloodgood), who pull a Good Cop / Bad Cop routine, with Avery the good cop. Both cops are trying to get her to confess to a crime she can’t remember committing, while her inexperienced rookie lawyer (Justin H. Min) poorly defends her against the hit and run charges. There are occasional outbursts of violence coming from the prisoners in the precinct jail.
Needing support she calls her friend Sarah (Breeda Wool) to come to the station, who uses a candy bar to signal her to “run.”
It’s set mostly in a single location.Telling too much more might ruin its surprises, its violent touches, why Detective Avery becomes unhinged and a sinister plot.
REVIEWED ON 8/4/2024 GRADE: B-
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