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Stained
The Letter Red
USA 2019
produced by Joston Theney, Edward Gusts (executive), Arielle Brachfeld (executive) for #Sinning Works, Helsinki Institute Pictures
directed by Joston Theney
starring Arielle Brachfeld, Edward Gusts, Melissa Mars, Ethan McDowell, Joston Theney, Jessica Sonneborn, Arielle Hader, Derick Anthony, Linda Bella, Emii, Veronica Lavery, Constance Brenneman, Kailena Mai, Christopher Crabb, Nihilist Gelo, Lucas Benso, Angelica Bridges, Linda S. Wong, Alisha Seaton, Tanya Gorlow, Gianna Benso, Kari Cowell (voice), Taylor F. Bailey, Michael Wayne Foster, Gerard Griesbaum, Steven Frank Mejia, Donovan Shickley, Cassandra Gibbs, Andrea Watt
screenplay by Arielle Brachfeld, Edward Gusts, Joston Theney, based on Macbeth by William Shakespeare, music by Edgy Darkson
Macbeth
review by Mike Haberfelner
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John Macbeth (Edward Gusts) tried to get ahead in the corporate world
by hard work, and he's really good at his job and pushes the company he's
working for forward - only to then be denied a promotion or raise in
favour of his boss Duncan (Joston Theney). John though finds dirt on
Duncan and confronts him with it - and this confrontation gets violent on
the quick, with John ultimately killing his boss in self defense. Not
wanting to risk a murder charge though, John throws the body into a nearby
river. When he later tells his wife Jane (Arielle Brachfeld) about this
... she reacts with great pride, and furthermore takes inspiration from
her husband's deed and drives a neighbour, Stephen (Ethan McDowell), who
tried to get a bit too friendly with her, to insanity. This almost
backfires when Stephen physically attacks Jane and she and John kill him.
Later they find Stephen's highly pregnant wife Mary (Melissa Mars) injured
from a fall down the stairs, and they force a Cesarian on her to save the
baby but let her just die. So it seems everything has come to a happy
ending for them, they now have a baby they have always longed for, and
with Duncan gone, John pretty much falls up the corporate ladder. And then
John's assistant Margaret (Jessica Sonneborn) calls: She has witnessed
John kill Duncan and has since gone into hiding, but now she wants to
blackmail John - so John agrees to meet her, and doesn't just kill her but
also her sister and niece.
Detectives McDuff (Arielle Hader) and Davies (Nihilist Gelo) have long
been on the case, but now that the corpses of Margaret and family and
Duncan are finally found, they can't help but putting two and two together
and close in on John and Jane - who are not likely to go down without a
fight ...
A loose and modernized adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth,
transplanted into the corporate world, this movie really concentrates more
on the horrific details of the play rather than the language of the Barde
(in fact, no more than a few quotes from the play remain intact in the
movie) - and in doing so the film puts a very macabre spin on the source
material that's really emphasized by the fact that it's no longer set in
distant history but the "real world", turning the Macbeths from
power-hungry schemers within a context of constant wars and shifting
loyalties to dangerous serialkillers ... and it works, too, thanks to a
clever screenplay that properly builds up its characters, paired with
outbursts of violence and even some (enjoyably) sick humour (like when
John and Jane perform a Cesarian on Mary). And Joston Theney's direction
that seems to have a rather impatient spin to it (what with all the
handheld camera shots) really helps to bring the film to life, as does a
very solid ensemble cast - with extra praise for Arielle Brachfeld, whose
slow descent into insanity seems entirely palpable. A rather cool piece of
genre cinema for sure.
If
that at all has gotten you interested, you can find this movie on
TerrorTV.
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