Knowing of writer/director/producer Rory Karpf primarily for his award-winning sports-oriented documentary work over the past 20 years, I didn’t know what to expect with his new narrative feature GRACE POINT. Talk about a wonderful surprise! And I’m happy to say it all starts with a smart and smartly written script by Karpf and co-writer Paul Russell Smith.
We first see a young man in his late teens running for his life through the woods. We know nothing about him other than he looks worse for wear, desperate, and scared to death. Teasing our curiosity with this imagery, Karpf wastes no time in winding the clock back four days to provide the story behind the frightened young man.
Brandon Hayes, like so many youth (and adults), has substance abuse issues that have created a rift between him and his father Winston. Tired of cleaning vomit from his son night after night or wondering if he is dead in a ditch somewhere when he doesn’t come home, Winston Hayes has made the difficult decision to place Brandon into Promise Valley, a presumably strict rehab facility. Of course, Brandon hates him for it and doesn’t think he has a problem.
Meeting Brandon and Winston in the car on their way to Promise Valley, tension and anger is thick, yet we can understand the position of each man. We also learn that Brandon’s mother passed away which only adds to the situation and the inflammatory emotions of Brandon and Winston.
Desperate for a bump of cocaine or whatever drug he has hidden in his pockets, Brandon argues with his father that he needs to stop and pee, be it on the side of the road, in a forest, or wherever. Winston agrees to stop at a hole-in-the-wall gas station in a podunk backwoods town called Grace Point. While Winston gets gas, Brandon hits the expectedly disgusting and filthy restroom, fuels himself up with cocaine, and then tries to hit on the cute cashier Sophie in the mini-mart. On exiting, he sees his father being harassed by some low life.
Wanting to get away from this low life as quickly as possible, Winston hustles Brandon to get in the car. Resuming their trip to Promise Valley, the father-son arguing continues but quickly turns into fear and panic when the car overheats and as Winston pulls over to look under the hood, they are ambushed by not only the thug at the gas station but his entire “crew”. Although Winston yells for Brandon to stay in the car, Brandon doesn’t listen and exits the vehicle when he sees his father physically attacked. Brandon immediately starts filming the events on his phone and captures them shooting and killing his father. As Winston is dying, he screams out for Brandon to “run”. And run he does, with this gang of killers hot in pursuit desperate to get Brandon’s phone and the incriminating video.
The astute viewer will notice that the Brandon we see running from his father’s attackers is not what we saw in the opening scenes of the film. So buckle up, as things are about to get more than a bit dicey and filled with twists and turns that you will never see coming.
Over the next few days, Brandon is pursued, goes through drug withdrawals, is aided by a good samaritan named Cutter who also finds himself the target of these local thugs, is captured, and locked up in a filthy abandoned prison cell, but with the drugs leaving his system, his head starts to clear and Brandon is forced to face his own internal demons and examine what he’s done to his life. And dare we say, guilt creeps into the mix as had Winston not been taking Brandon to Promise Valley for rehab, none of this would have happened and Winston would still be alive. But stuck in a jail cell with an armed captor at the ready and with no one coming to help him, Brandon has lost all hope. Or has he? And will he ever see Promise Valley?
Driven by this smart and solid script rooted in addiction and trauma and the internal struggles that come with that along with the impact those struggles have on relationships and situations, GRACE POINT deceptively begins as a small-town drama but quickly turns into a respectable action thriller buoyed by strong performances, starting with Jim Parrack as Cutter, Brandon’s savior in the woods. Cutter is a veteran who has chosen life alone in the woods because of the demons he brought back with him from the war. Parrack brings a quiet calm to Cutter that allows the story to catch its breath after Brandon’s initial escape from his father’s killers while showing us another type of demon beyond those that Brandon is dealing with. It’s those moments between Cutter and Brandon that also set the stage for John Owen Lowe to step up with some nice dramatic poignancy as Brandon. Some beautiful, somewhat confessional moments between Cutter and Brandon also give way to more questioning by Brandon when Cutter refuses to help him seek revenge on those who killed his father. This script and its character development constantly push forward with thoughtful and thought-provoking scenarios.
Speaking of John Owen Lowe, he delivers a solid performance as Brandon, most notably when in one-on-one dialogue situations versus the action sequences, the latter of which falls a bit flat as he feels way out of his element. Lowe displays some wonderful emotional depth when engaging in conversations, be it with Andrew McCarthy’s Winston, Parrack’s Cutter, Harlan Drum’s Sophie, or Sean Carrigan’s Luther Stone, “leader” of the local gang. There is real emotion and it serves the story and the character well.
Standout is Sean Carrigan’s turn as Luther Stone whose character appears somewhat dichotomous and chameleonic which brings a mysterious air to Luther the more we see him. Not to be overlooked is Drum’s Sophie as Drum brings a flirtatious nature to the role and plays well opposite Lowe. Not surprisingly, as Winston, Andrew McCarthy sets the tone that puts this ride in motion and doesn’t disappoint.
With darker subject matter at the heart of GRACE POINT, one might think Karpf would go dark with his cinematography and visual tone. He doesn’t. Working with cinematographer Al Francesco, they keep the visual tonal bandwidth light and bright, contrasting the darkness of Brandon’s journey. Shot on location in North Carolina, the landscape itself is a supporting character and metaphorically speaks to the beauty and the darkness of life. Francesco captures beautiful imagery of nature’s purity. The visual grammar has a fluidity to it, but is very grounded in one-on-one conversations, typically maintaining a two-shot so we see action and reaction together, highlighting the idea of connectivity between the characters. Night scenes are beautifully lensed while taunting us with some inky negative space that keeps Brandon, and us, on our toes as to what’s lurking outside as well as in Brandon’s fragile mind. Look for the third act and the final 10-15 minutes of the film that delivers a GE- bright-white visual and emotional tonal shift that is beautifully designed and lensed.
Editor Corey Frost keeps things moving at a steady pace while building tension but also allowing for quiet moments of reflective conversations that move the story forward.
Complementing the lighting, lensing, performances, and story is Theron Kay’s score. Subtle and never overpowering, it brings just the right musical tone to GRACE POINT.
Always a joy to discover a film that is unexpected and largely unpredictable, that’s exactly what GRACE POINT is. Thanks to a strong script and thoughtful visuals, Rory Karpf took the road less traveled and celebrates the twists and turns and traumas of life with poignant thoughtfulness.
Directed by Rory Karpf
Written by Rory Karpf and Paul Russell Smith
Cast: Andrew McCarthy, John Owen Lowe, Jim Parrack, Sean Carrigan, and Harlan Drum
by debbie elias, 03/18/2025
GRACE POINT is now available on Prime Video and AppleTV.
