Big Muddy
Discovery
With Big Muddy we witness birth to a genre that could best be described as ‘Prairie Noir’ and the feature debut of a burgeoning Canadian talent.
In the little Saskatchewan town of Big Muddy, everyone has a secret, each one the dirtier then the next one come home to roost. Martha (Nadia Litz) has spent most of her adult days living off the grid with her teenage son Andy (Justin Kelly), getting by pulling cons with her boyfriend Tommy (Rossif Sutherland). But it all goes wrong when conflict at the horse track results in Andy committing a horrible crime that forces Andy and Martha to go into hiding with her estranged father (Stephen McHattie). When they get to her dad’s house, they learn that a convicted murderer has just escaped from prison and has only one thing on his mind, seeing Martha and his son.
A stunning film that harkens back to the classic film noirs of the 40’s and 50’s as writer/director Jefferson Moneo crafts a narrative that borrows from the likes of Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Orson Welles and even from a more contemporary standpoint, the Coen Brothers. Litz commands the screen with gallons of femme fatale mojo and McHattie is great as her world weary dad.
It’s a glorious piece of pulp storytelling and distinctly Canadian. (Dave Voigt)
Screens
Tuesday, September 9th, 7:00pm, Scotiabank 13
Thursday, September 11th, 8:00pm, Scotiabank 9
Thanks to SPiN TORONTO for sponsoring our TIFF 2014 coverage.
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