What is the American Dream, exactly? Is it a white picket fence with a family on a quiet street-or is it a desperate grasp for survival in a land of the fittest?
Writer/Director Tim Sutton's upcoming film, Donnybrook, a grunge punk rock slice of the brutal underbelly of America's worst corners, tackles the evolving subject of that much-pursued dream. In this world, adapted from the great mind of novelist Frank Bill, Sutton explores a part of our civilization that Charles Darwin would nod at and whisper to you, "I told you so."
For some, the easy 9 to 5 gig with the wife and kid isn't available at the next corner. Some souls have to fight, literally, for a chance to redemption. Men like ex-marine, Earl (Jamie Bell), a father and husband trying to resist the urge to break bad and provide a paycheck for his family that doesn't break the law. Flawed and imperfect yet fearless, Earl is ready to lay it all down. Enter Chainsaw Angus (Frank Grillo), a drug dealer who blazes a path of destruction through town that few have survived. Delia (Margaret Qualley) is stuck in an escape room looking for a key out of her decrepit hometown, but strangled under the long-reaching grip of Angus, she can't get out.
When a fighting tournament emerges with a payout of $100,000, Earl and Angus are set up on a collision course. One man trying to get his family to safer pastures and the other just a unfit beast with a need to watch the world around him burn. A woman stuck in between. In this depraved world, nothing solves a problem better than a bare-knuckle brawl. Who will make it out alive? Will the winner be left without scars? Doubtful.
Does this sound like something you'd be interested in? It should. Fighting, drug dealing, desolation of the human spirit, and more. This is cinematic candy corn.
Sutton loves placing flawed souls in a chaotic environment and stirring them around over low heat. He explored the moral dilemmas of a teenager in 2012's Pavilion. In 2013's Memphis, a gifted singer finds himself pushed and pulled in many directions while canvassing the hypnotic playground of desire. In 2016's Dark Night, Sutton ripped a story from the headlines with a tale centering on six strangers involved in a movie theater shooting. In a nutshell, the filmmaker likes exploring the darker corridors of our world. He finds a poetry in those stories.
The inspired casting of Donnybrook fits the writing style of Bill, who likes to paint tough guys who walk around with their hearts exposed for the taking. Bell has been good in certain roles, but rarely been given the space to work with as it shows with Earl. A hybrid of a rugby player and a punk rocker, Bell is the ideal actor for the role.
When the film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September, many critics and moviegoers raved about Grillo's performance as the maddening drug dealing Angus. Imagine the devil with a deadly right hook, and you have Grillo's incarnation. Angus isn't merely a villain, but a man beset by a certain way of doing things. A governor of the underworld, he rips the sympathy vines from the tree in his soul whenever they work up the courage to grow. One compared his breakout performance to that of Heath Ledger's The Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. This is the first legit fleshed out villain role that the 53-year-old renegade man of action has taken on, and judging from the looks of it, Grillo sunk both teeth into this steak.
Qualley, known mostly for her work on HBO's The Leftovers, has a chance to open up her potential on the big screen. An actress of stunning beauty yet carrying a mysterious avenue of cunning ability, Donnybrook could be her launch into the eyes of many.
When can you get your hands on this film? Feb. 15 in theaters and Feb. 22 on demand. IFC Films, a distributor known for taking on rugged indies like 2017's Chuck and this year's Wildlife, picked up Sutton's film after a flurry of action in Toronto. It's the perfect home for this unfiltered Fight Club-styled slice of pulp.
The awards season is well underway, but I'm already keeping an eye on 2019 due to films like Donnybrook. Bill had to get this story out of his bones, and Sutton had to bring it to us. Talents like Bell, Grillo, and Qualley will make it come to life.
This is the kind of film you wait around for like a kid putting out cookies for Santa and waiting for presents.
Come February, take your seat at the Donnybrook.
