Director: Eduardo Castrillo
Starring: Diogo Hause, Tom Sizemore, Jackie Dallas, Connie Jo Sechrist, Miguel A Nunez Jr, Jonaz Cain
Plot: When members of Joe’s (Diogo Hausen) therapy group start dying under mysterious circumstances, Detective Harris (Jackie Dallas) is forced to reopen a cold case. Her only lead: Father William (Tom Sizemore) – the group therapy leader who seems to know more than what is in his police statements.
Runtime: 1 Hour 13 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Thriller that Lacks Intensity
Story: The Pining starts when Detective Harris (Dallas) starts investigating an unusual murder, with this being one in a line that murders that seem to have a connection to Father William (Sizemore) and his support group, which sees the victims being a mix of murder and accidents. We meet recently disabled photographer Joe (Hausen) who has a string of models that he can make look beautiful on camera.
Joe has started seeing Father William to complete his healing process, which has seen him start to move on by dating one of his models, but soon he finds himself being part of next incident, can Harris unlock the truth before it is too late.
Thoughts on The Pining
Characters – Joe is a disabled photographer, he used to be an athlete before his accident too, this saw his life change overnight with him still feeling the effects of what happened to him, he has built up a reputation for his skills with a camera too and just when he starts getting help, he starts to see unusual things happen to him too. Father William is the man that held the support group meeting, he is trying to help people get over the trauma in their lives, but he becomes one of the suspects when the bodies start piling up. Detective Harris has been investigating the bodies, some seem like clear murders, others look like accidents, she believes there is a connection between the support group meeting and wants to get to the bottom of it.
Performances – Diogo Hausen is the best of the performers, he does show us how the character does feel like he has been a victim and showing the strength to carry on. Tom Sizemore is an actor we expect so much more from, he doesn’t get a chance to shine in this one, while Jackie Dallas does well with her scenes.
Story – The story here follows a string of cases that involve the members of a support group being involved in murders or strange accidents, we see how one detective is trying put the pieces together, while trying to save one of the final living members of the group. This is an interesting spin on the idea of victim selection, it does work for making the characters seem like they have been selected to play into their strengths and weaknesses. With this strong idea, comes a weaker way of telling the story, which doesn’t seem to make many of the scenes feel connected, or get to a targeting moments, which could bring about motivation to light until way too late in the film. This is a story that could be a lot more intense only it fails to capture the moments well enough.
Thriller – This film does try to keep us guessing to what will happen next, the problems comes with the fact we only have one scene that feels unpredictable with most just being a cut and dry version of the incidents.
Settings – This film is set in one city where the victims have all been around one locations which could make them the potential latest victim to what is going on, it shows how people don’t know everybody’s stories in life.
Scene of the Movie – Grace’s bad date.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The film spends too much time on Joe, when it seems like we should be investigating the murders.
Final Thoughts – This is a thriller that doesn’t manage to hit the levels it could do, it has an interesting idea, only it never gives it the full focus it should.
Overall: Thriller that misses the edgy side.
