“One of the finest indie thrillers I’ve seen this year”
We start off in a classroom with a bunch of kids watching the clock, and Shannon has a party planned as her parents are spending the weekend away. The house quickly fills; music sounding everywhere; booze is being downed, then Shannon sees her friend Kim, run into the bathroom. Kim (Heather Hemmens) is badly shaken, and tells Shannon (Shoshana Bush) she was raped by loner, Dylan (Josh Janowicz). The party is over; everyone is kicked out, and the few that remain attack the boy. He continually denies it happened, but they accidentally kill the quiet outcast, and now fight amongst themselves over who should be blamed. They finally agree that self-preservation is their only option. To enjoy this properly, it’s best to know as little as possible.
- Complicity
- Written & Directed by
C.B. Harding - Cast
Sean Young, Jenna Boyd, Haley Ramm - Release Date
8 October 2013 - Ed’s Grade: A
Complicity started off like so many movies about teens deciding to have a party, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t think it was gonna be much good based on what was happening at the beginning of the party, as one walking cliché after another appeared. Well, I was very wrong, and gladly so. It appeared to have been a ruse by the writer/director of this amazing movie, C.B. Harding, as his direction was extremely good, and had me riveted in no time. Harding showed some skill by having me feeling one way about the entire situation, then another. We were posed ethical questions that were very thought-provoking, and had the actors to bring it all to life. I think it was that everything was done so well, that helped make this psychological thriller work as well as it did, and was also, just so unexpected.
*****
The cinematography was solid, and as mentioned, the direction was quite brilliant, but the young cast, and their utterly convincing performances, all helped to make this one of the finest indie thrillers I’ve seen this year. Complicity was clearly a low-budget affair, but this wasn’t a film where that even mattered. It wasn’t without flaws, but when you watch something this good, you can gloss over the small things, that, at the end of the day, took nothing away from the overall effect. I’m referring to the fight scenes, that could have been tightened up, but that’s me nitpicking at an otherwise perfect film. Kudos to C.B. Harding for this commendable effort. I can’t wait to see what Harding plans for an encore.
