The Retrieval (FILM REVIEW)
The Retrieval
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Headline:
Black Bounty Hunter and Fugitive Slave Forge Unlikely Friendship in Civil War
Saga
It is 1864, and the bloody conflict between
the Union and the Confederacy is raging.
Against the ominous backdrop of battle and cannon fire in the distance, we are
introduced to Will (Ashton Sanders), a 13 year-old orphan ostensibly wrapped up
in his own struggle to survive near the front lines.
Separated at birth from the mother he’s
never known, the vulnerable black boy is trying to save enough money to track
down his long-lost dad. He works as the assistant to Burrell (Bill Oberst, Jr.),
a bounty hunter in the fugitive slave business. Will does the white
Southerner’s bidding by first ingratiating himself with unsuspecting escapees,
and then betraying them once they confess to being runaways.
Today, we find him on a mission in
search of an ex-slave named Nate (Tishuan Scott). Will gains his confidence by offering
to escort him back below the Mason-Dixon Line
for a deathbed visit with a dying brother.
That establishes the absorbing premise
of The Retrieval, a riveting road saga with escalating tension. Will Nate catch on
before he’s turned over to Burrell? Or might the kid have second thoughts about
striking a bargain with the devil?
Written
and directed by Chris Eska, The Retrieval made a splash on the festival circuit
including at South by Southwest last year where Tishuan Scott won the Special jury Prize in the Breakthrough Performance category.
Besides being blessed with great acting, this atmospheric mood piece features
eerie cinematography that manages to transport you back to the Civil War era
more convincingly than either 12 Years a Slave or Django Unchained.
Slavery
revisited as a sick institution making for strange bedfellows.
Excellent
(4 stars)
Rated R
for violence and ethnic slurs.
Running time: 94 minutes
Distributor: Variance
Films
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