The Last Straw starts off with Andrea and Ervin Litkei’s achy “You Lied to My Heart” which previews the auditory engagement of the audience. Aviation images are quickly shot sequentially, first appearing is a blood mark on the counter then a bloody arm, and lastly an old decommissioned yellow telephone placed Off-Hook. What happened? We know it’s not good. There’s blood everywhere…I tell you, that’s the beginning of the 911 call that ends suddenly. That’s enough of a hook to make us care, and we’re taken back twenty-four hours earlier to explain how we came to the aforementioned mess in the very impressive first feature of the filmmaker Alan Scott Neal. The movie stars Jessica Belkin (American Horror Stories Hotel), and it tells the story of Nancy (Belkin), a waitress whose lonely overnight shift in a country diner, soon became a night from hell.
The fun starts when a couple of masked bandits come in to mess things up for the gang. Stuck in the desolate bar, Nancy finds herself with no choice but to take objective measures for the sake of the rest of the night. Meaning, she’s not going to behave and wait for the situation to come around to her liking. Scary as it may sound, and fascinating as it may be, the movie manages to deceive your understanding of the possibilities of storytelling and rather than overuse the gal-on-her-own horror novelty, it beautifully draws inspiration from ‘70s/’80s geniuses like John Carpenter and William Friedkin, whose works (Halloween and The Exorcist respectively) practically set a standard for horror movies which is mist in the air if popular beliefs were recalled. Joining Belkin are Charles Kowalski, Taylor ( Snowfall ) and Jeremy Sisto ( Thirteen, Clueless ) who grain of salt level to TAYLOR SARDONI’S robust script. Which they have so far dabbled in as we have been teased is that n everything is going come to a boiling point filled with tension over here. We must start with, Nancy. As was the case with her when we meet her, she is taking a wee behind the bushes at the roadside and that, too, has its own story. To her credit, she is not doing that. She is actually doing a pregnancy test.
The movie will interestingly embellish many scenes which we have come across commonly, especially, the one that says ‘girl on the edge, this day could not get worse’ – and men – I would not want you forget this one. Her being appreciated for taking the pregnancy test results by terrorizing those who need to apologize to her, and the car breaking down eventually leads her to a disheveled exit to the family diner where she serves as a waitress. Sisto, the father, angry over the car and seeking to get a romantic dinner says to Nancy it is her turn for the night shift. She agrees, albeit with annoyance, but soon after that, events take a dramatic turn – I stop short of saying a turn for the worse, but maybe it is so. Seeing that Nancy is the waitress for the occasion, she dashes towards the pack of troublemakers who have recently entered wearing masks and threatens them in a controlled manner. Annoyed with things as they are, later in the kitchen stress she goes on to abuse a frizzy geek who is her colleague, then she fires her whole kitchen brigade, her masculine cook who I imagine is bravado with her. Hence, she is alone in the diner where all the remaining customers have also left. Imagine a jukebox. Cue: dance with it because, well; jealousy and rage cannot wait till the first casualty appears. Strangely enough, an independent rock released in 2018 called I am yer Dad by a gay girl band is not available in the jukebox options of the restaurant, but rather, some small diner in the heart of a nothing town in America just to blow off steam, might as well go with this.
Inevitably similar to how Scream and Halloween before it did, the masked rabble-rousers return and it is assumed that these are the same kids as before but the screenwriter manages to build some level of suspicion, fascination and rising tension to make you question whether that will be the case. All this is done quite early in the film, rather than making the audience wait for 45 minutes.
As soon as the lights go out in the diner and intruders with masks appear above the windows in frenzied pops outside, Nancy takes a knife and crouches down below the counter. Following one cop visit, she finds out about a gruesome murder. Somewhere towards the end of a minute, the sense of dread sets in. This is where the narrative of the film’s script as well as the film itself breaks the conventional norm of linear storytelling, which is among the pleasant surprises of this film. In doing so, screenwriter Taylor Sardoni offers more context into some of the characters we have been introduced to so far.
That said, it almost indulges in melodrama in depicting the class differences and the classism seeking acceptance. It so happens that the actors manage to get their marks as well. Jessica Belkin impressively captivates as a leading character, making Nancy quite believable with stability and despair. The character is well developed, and the actress adds more dimension than one would expect in the beginning.
In general, Alan Scott Neal (brilliant casting director) stands up last straw trying to sweeten Last Straw with years of his own experience and obsessive research from his Virginia upbringing all of which are either narrated or taken as case studies in his head. He had observed the family structure in small towns colliding with the broken and alienated people. He would later embark on a degree program in criminal justice which he would be more creatively sophisticated to understand how certain social disruptions became part of the American fabric.
The last straw is not as scholarly as the title makes it sound. Taylor Sardoni’s writing always finds a point where there is a humored interlude in some of the most tragic scenes. It offers an original and well-rounded of the phenomena of the horrible crimes. The tone of the film can afford Nancy’s own rather caustic disappointments regarding the role she is assumed to play, while at the same time delving into the ugliness of her attackers. In that respect, Last straw wishes to turn the views of the audience about the often, one sided view of the hero and the villain. Most of it works, although it tends to tilt the balance even more than the others in favor of the protagonist. That is the purpose of our visit in the first place anyway.
For the readers who enjoy thrillers which are fast paced till the end and keep capturing the readers attention, Last straw is worth a watch. Note to horror fans craving gory scenes: No, the film is not gory-ish. It shows just as much but also seems to have built enough tension that the real scares are capable of coming from the audience’s own heads.
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