Image
With Into the Ashes, directors Aaron and Adam Christian deliver a scathing character study that is indelibly etched in the memory.
Lucas Till gives the best performance of his career as Franklin, a former inmate seeking redemption on the outskirts of a decaying Ohio steel town.
When a local crime boss makes him an offer, Franklin is dragged back into the underworld.
The filmmakers plunge us headlong into this dead-end, decaying world, where hope has been crushed underfoot and survival depends on violence.
Image
The cinematographers capture the industrial wastelands and the inner turmoil of the characters with a bleak and heartbreaking poetry.
Till portrays Franklin's dissolution and small acts of humanity with profound subtlety. Through his eyes, we witness a society consuming itself and one man's last-ditch effort to find meaning.
Though not an easy film to watch, Into the Ashes captivated me with its unflinching moral vision.
A masterpiece of the modern neo-western that will influence the psychological depths of the genre for many films to come. Don't miss it.
Image
An American tragedy etched on the screen with unforgettable force. Lucas Till becomes a true protagonist in this unflinching, bleakly poetic portrait of society's discarded souls.