GANGLAND

(director: Vincent Grashaw; screenwriter: Zach Montague; cinematographer: Brandon Waddell; editor: Vincent Grashaw; music: James Wakefield; cast: Lou Diamond Phillips (Teddy Sharpe), Dana Namerode (Sandra Scala), Elisha Pratt (Richie Blacklance), Nick Stahl (Darius Humphrey), Irene Badard (Chelsea), Lane Factor (Albert, 15-year-old), Kimberly Guerro (Dyani); Runtime: 105; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Angelia Adzic, Ran Namerode, Angelia Adzic, Cole Payne; Amazon Prime, Traverse Media; 2025)

“Gritty crime drama.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
The gritty crime drama (originally titled “Keep Quiet”) is directed by Vincent Grashaw (“What Josiah Saw”/”Bang Bang”) and written by Zach Montague. It’s about the conflict among the Indigenous reservation’s tribal force and community who are in a cycle of socioeconomic despair, the uncaring local police under Sheriff Darius Humphrey (Nick Stahl), and the just released vengeful gang leader from the community Richie Blacklance (Elisha Pratt) knowing secrets about the drug-riddled place that could start a gang war on his return to his old residence.


The scruffy veteran tribal force police officer, the 60something, Teddy Sharpe (Lou Diamond Phillips), who does things in a questionable pragmatic way and not by the book, is not too keen to be working in Oklahoma’s rural Thunderstone Reservation (a fictional place-it was filmed in central & eastern Oklahoma, on the reservations of the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes) with the do-gooder outsider young new citified woman recruit from Tulsa, Sandra Scala (Dana Namerode), who is Greek and totally coming from a different place than him.

Good location shots of the impoverished reservation, solid cast performances (Lou Diamond Phillips has never been better), and a convincing and well-written story make it worth seeing.

It played at the Locarno Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 7/6/2026  GRADE: B+
dennisschwartzreviews.com