Silk Road – fact-based drug/internet thriller – theaters and VOD – 1 1/2 stars
Inspired by larger-than-life actual events, this riveting crime thriller follows the rise and fall of Silk Road, the infamous darknet site that sent a seismic shock through the World Wide Web. Young, idealistic, and driven to succeed, Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson) creates the internet’s first unregulated marketplace: Silk Road. But when it becomes a multimillion-dollar pipeline for illicit drugs, Ross is set on a collision course with Rick Bowden (Jason Clarke), a disreputable and dangerously unpredictable DEA agent, who will use any means necessary to take him down. Read More
Director: Tiller Russell
Starring: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Yun, Jimmi Simpson
Blithe Spirit – ghost farce, based on Nöel Coward – theaters and VOD – 2 stars
A married crime novelist finds himself in a tough predicament when an eccentric mystic summons the spirit of his first wife during a séance. Read More
Director: Edward Hall
Starring: Dan Stevens, Isla Fisher, Aimee-Ffion Edwards
Test Pattern – post-rape drama – Salt Lake Film Society virtual cinema – 3 1/2 stars
Young couple Renesha (Brittany S. Hall) and Evan (Will Brill) negotiate a variety of questions, judgments, and other comments on their interracial relationship. Yet, the most significant test for the strength of their bond arrives in the form of a brutal sexual assault Renesha suffers. A frantic Evan must then drive the distressed Renesha across the city in hopes of securing a rape kit, encountering further prejudice along the way. Written and directed by Shatara Michelle Ford. Gail Bean, Drew Fuller, and Ben Levin co-star. Read More
Director: Shatara Michelle Ford
Starring: Brittany S. Hall, Will Brill, Gail Bean
