Director: Matthew Pope
Writer: Don M Thompson, Matthew Pope (Screenplay)
Starring: Bethany Anne Lind, Will Patton, Elisabeth Rohm, Jared Ivers, Jimmy Gonzales, Jack Andrews
Plot: A woman’s panicked decision to cover up an accidental killing spins out of control when her conscience demands she return the dead man’s body to his family.
Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Gritty Thriller
Story: Blood on Her Name starts after an incident at Leigh Tiller’s (Lind) garage, leaving a man dead and Leigh looking to cover up the dead body, her son Ryan (Ivers) is on parole, while her cop father Richard (Patton) is always watching over her.
After the cover-up starts to get exposed, Leigh is forced into turning to the people she can trust to keep it a secret, leading to more of the people who are coming looking for the truth, which will include people from Leigh’s ex’s life.
Thoughts on Blood on Her Name
Characters – Leigh has been running the family garage after her husband was put in jail, she is holding everything together to make sure her son gets back on the right path and after an incident in the garage, she looks to cover up an accidental death. She is tough, wants to be independent and will do anything to keep her son safe. Richard is Leigh’s father, a career cop that has always helped his daughter, who reluctantly helps her with her problem. Ryan is the son who has had a moment of violence defending himself, one that caused serious injuries, now with a parole officer, he is looked after by his mother, who wants to help him get back on the right path. Dani is one of the locals who related to the victim who might become the problem for Leigh.
Performances – Bethany Anne Lind in the leading role is the highlight of the film, showing the strength her character is showing throughout, while being on the verge of a break down. Will Patton is always going to be a strong character actor, who works well, while the rest of the cast don’t put a foot wrong through the film.
Story – The story here follows a woman who tries to cover up an accident, which sees thing starting to spiral out of control when people start putting the clues together. This is an interesting a gritty crime story, we do see how the reaction is to try and fix things, rather than let the police look into the incident because of the family’s history with against the law. Everything does unfold slowly seeing how everything falls apart which keeps us feeling the same as Leigh who is constantly worried about forgetting something the is trying to keep quiet.
Crime – The crime side of the film shows us how what could have been just an accident, soon becomes more once the cover-up starts happening.
Settings – The film is set in a small town, where the locals all know the reputation families have created for themselves.
Scene of the Movie – The showdown.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not seeing the incident and any point, only hearing about it.
Final Thoughts – This is a gritty crime drama that boils along as a simmering pace.
Overall: Gritty and gloomy
