"Only the Good Survive" at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival!
Yeah, yeah, SXSW got it first, but don’t sleep on the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
Describing “Only the Good Survive” as a heist-turned-horror film is like calling Panos Cosmatos’ “Mandy” a movie where Nicolas Cage avenges his murdered girlfriend. That’s not technically wrong, but there are so many more toppings on that pizza. At this year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, “Only the Good Survive” was introduced to us as an “energetic pop punk horror heist thriller.” There might not be a better descriptor, but let’s give it a whirl. That’s what film festivals are for, aren’t they?
A botched robbery in South Texas leads to a massacre, which yields only one survivor. Brea Dunlee tells her story to the skeptical Sheriff Mack via flashbacks. Brea’s boyfriend Ry discovered an elderly couple in possession of a rare coin worth millions. His ex-con friend Erve convinces him to steal the coin, along with the help of Dev, an enforcer who works for a local pawn shop. The boys search the couple’s house while Brea stays on lookout, but they discover more than they bargained for while becoming the target of a murderous cult.
If any part of that makes you think you’ve seen this movie before, you haven’t. Writer/director Dutch Southern has created a colorful romp with an edge. Much like “From Dusk Till Dawn,” there's no hint of the horror to come as Brea’s voiceover zigs and zags throughout her tale. The back-and-forth between the flashbacks and Brea’s interrogation can actually be a bit distracting, as we never go too long before coming back to her and the Sheriff. It feels like every WTF moment elicits a reaction from Mack, sometimes before they land with the audience. At one point in the middle, we’re introduced to a new character via a near-silent home invasion short film. Southern eventually reveals the connective tissue by the end, and everything actually dovetails pretty inventively. There’s just some excess digression along the way. Trust your audience, man. We want to take the twisty ride with your characters!
Frederick Weller and Sidney Flanigan in the…frame story.
Speaking of which, the ensemble is superb. D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai plays Ry with more mature shading than his character on “Reservation Dogs.” He pairs well with Sidney Flanigan’s (“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”) Brea, who generates enormous empathy through her narration. They ground the film amidst more heightened characters like Frederick Weller’s slimy Sheriff and the other robbers, Erve and Dev. WIll Ropp plays “mastermind” Erve with the modulated urgency of a great character actor-in-training. He’s hilariously sure of himself, even as he commits crimes in broad daylight while wearing his mechanic uniform, nametag and all. Darius Fraser’s Dev is the group’s version of “the muscle,” though he dresses like a mod and plays in a punk band named “MIlton Hurl.” Everyone shines in their own way.
Our merry band of looters.
Southern’s directorial debut synthesizes elements from his previous scripts. You may remember the viral “Power Rangers” fan film from a few years ago (also told through a flashback confessional structure), and the underrated “Bad Turn Worse” (also about young people pulling a heist gone wrong). He definitely knows his wheelhouse, and it’s great to see him let loose. If Wes Anderson never left Texas and became obsessed with the Coen Brothers instead of France, he’d be making films like “Only the Good Survive.”
…maybe “giallonoire?” Is that a subgenre? Ask me again when the blu ray comes out.
What was that about a cul-oh. Got it.
For more information check out the film’s official website.
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