Sawyer (Hermione Corfield) is headed to DC for a job interview when her GPS takes her off the freeway path and directly into a “Road Closed” sign. Like a young Jennifer Lawrence or Elizabeth Olsen, she has the whole girl-next-door-who-could-definitely-beat-you-up thing in the bag. Lest we be lulled into a false sense of impending relief, an eager rookie (Jeremy Glazer) is more concerned than the jaded Sheriff (Sean O’Bryan), who has a disturbing familiarity with Sawyer’s attackers. Rated R ), two menacing locals attempt to abduct her. We’ve all had that sinking feeling when a film’s set-up just isn’t working. The problem with “Rust Creek” comes back to tone and protagonist. In many ways Sawyer’s situation is an apt metaphor for that uniquely small town sense of walls closing in, and the suspicion that one may never escape. Stuck in a dangerous business with his ne’er-do-well cousins, Lowell more directly embodies this predicament. Similarly frustrating is the inertia that seizes the character of Sawyer once she reaches Lowell’s trailer; although she’s still smart and tough, the agency seems to drain from her body with every subsequent scene until she’s listless and passive, waiting for the other characters to tell her what to do. Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed. Screenwriter Julie Lipson’s well-written, naturalistic dialogue helps pass the time, as does Michelle Lawler’s lovely scenic cinematography. Hermione Corfield, Jay Paulson, Micah Hauptman, Daniel R. Hill, Sean O'Bryan.
The situation Sawyer has unwittingly stumbled into is much more complicated than a simple I Spit On Your Grave scenario, leading to a slow-burn character-driven drama as Sawyer, forced to hide out with Lowell in his isolated drug lab, gets to know the thoughtful amateur chemist, and him to know her. Rust Creek starts off like any number of films about a beautiful young woman menaced by rednecks in the isolated backwoods of some godforsaken hellhole (Kentucky, in this case): Sawyer (Hermione Corfield) is a bright, ambitious college student who, at the beginning of the film, sets out on a road trip to Washington, DC, where she’ll interview for her dream job. (Don’t worry; it doesn’t turn into a love story, either.) Under McGowan’s restrained direction, “Rust Creek” is an impressive example of good storytelling overriding budget and star power. What’s perhaps most interesting about director Jen McGowan’s film is how much she rescues it from that dreadful opening act, although she can’t quite get it back to something worth recommending, largely due to a major flaw that grows more prominent in contrast as the film gets better. It’s ostensibly a thriller, but it’s rarely thrilling, way more interesting with its character beats between Corfield and the movie-stealing Jay Paulson than in any of the scenes that feel like they should be tense but aren’t. Copyright © 2020 Penske Business Media, LLC. Her captor is Lowell (Jay Paulson), a gaunt redhead who cooks meth. All rights reserved.