Directed by Jon Polson
Eric (Jon Foster) is released from a juvenile detention centre on his eighteenth birthday and goes to live with his aunt (Laura Dern). Flashbacks confirm that he was responsible for murdering both his parents. Unwanted attention from the media is preventing him from getting on with his life. He decides to take a road journey to see a girl, but tells his aunt that he is going to check out college campuses. During his journey Eric finds that he is still the target of unwanted attention – this time from a young girl and a police officer.
The young girl is Lori Cranston (Sophie Taub), a confused 15 year old in search of an escape from her troubled life. To use her words, her mother is a ‘pervert magnet’ who is totally unaware of the consequences that has had on her daughter. She has a morbid fascination with the young man with a violent past and she is a risk-taker. The police officer (Russell Crowe) has been monitoring Eric for years because he thinks that he is responsible for more deaths than those of his parents, and he wants to expose this serial killer before there is another death.
This character-driven film leaves the audience with much to reflect upon. It exposes all kinds of tenderness, from the most selfless form of caring for a loved one to the most twisted interpretation emerging from a warped mind. As it is based on a Robert Cormier book, you know that the content is going to be challenging but rewarding. The opening of the film proposes that there are only two types of people – those chasing pleasure and those running from pain. The tension is palpable as the audience is allowed into these three peoples’ lives to try and find out what motivates them.
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