Hesperia

Good movie!

source: Hesperia

Hesperia takes the viewer on an amazing ride with many twist and turns that you won't see coming. Decisions have real life consequences and can derail the future. I reccomend this film.

Are most reviewers here paid to write amazing reviews on bad movies? Cause I don't know how anyone could think this movie was worth the watch. Low budget - yes Horrible script - yes Bad acting - yes Slow burn - yes Am I writing this review while watching it? YES What did I miss? Kids complaining about not having their cell phone because they were told they would get an Xbox.

The debut feature low budget independent film is exactly what the indie film industry is about. Flawed in many ways as most films in this inde low budget film category, However, it is an inspiration from first time feature writer & director Steven Helgoth, whose unmistakeable subtle hand deftly leads a strong cast of Hollywood's up and comers who deliver some excellent performances. While the script tends to meander a bit, the eventual twists and turns never stop. It is a cautionary tale of idle time and having too much of it. From the campelling opening scene that takes place in any back alley USA to the final ironic twist. It is a window into the extroadinary circumstances of ordinary lives. It is an impressive first feature building a solid foundation for Cinekat to move forward in exciting new directions. If you love the CRAFT of film, see it.

Hesperia is a small town located in California's Mojave Desert, and an apt setting for director Steve Helgoth's shrewdly executed small town crime drama of the same name. In the film's log line we're told that, "In a small desert town, a home invasion goes terribly wrong." That sound bite alone does indeed reveal the groundwork for the film's confluence of events, as Hesperia deals with an overlap of disparate dark side incidents both occurring at the same place and at the same time. It's a very cool premise, and one that's appropriately given the small town treatment in full, from the film's intense nocturnal darkness so indicative of desert living, to the hopelessness some of its very intentionally detached characters, and extended yet further by the internally isolated vibe of much of the quietly-paced dialogue. For those of us old enough to remember, the crime of "home invasion" was once not differentiated from the wider nomenclature of "breaking and entering." The advent of "home invasion" brought with it the evocation of a direct and specific psychological fear already shared by so many. Helgoth leverages our terrifying associations we hold around this crime and employs it as Hesperia's primary psychological driver, but not without borrowing storytelling elements that have been effectively fueling genres like horror and drama since the onset of the moving pictures industry. In allowing itself to be influenced by the best of all of these worlds, Hesperia becomes an ambitiously executed and highly engrossing indie film.

The film opens with a powerhouse song that captures the desert landscape of the Mojave Desert in California. Giving an inside view of drug dealers living in the desolate area who involve themselves with tweakers and a pair of young adult friends who stick together through the twist and turns, Hesperia has the true styling of great 1980s neo-noir movies that captures the elegance, mood, and mystery of the Southern California landscape. For an independent film, the filmmakers created a story of true originality. I can't wait to see what comes next for them.

Ok so I'll break this review in 5 parts. 1. The opening scene is actually good and had me hopeful for the movie. One of the actors (who is feature towards the end as well) is the only actor in this movie that delivers a performance that will make you feel any emotions at all. All the other acting is very amateur and unbelievable. 8/10 2. There are 2 storylines developing. 1 with the criminals and one with the family. They are both fine. Perfectly mediocre. None of the acting is great and all of the dialogue is bland but overall is fine and it decently sets up the main characters and their motivations. The 2 boys are obsessed with their cell phones and posting videos to feel cool and are convinced by the dad to go without them for the night. (This is why they don't immediately call the cops later on.) 6/10 3. When the 2 storylines merge is where this movie really takes a nosedive. This is where the home invasion occurs and a supposedly grusome series of events follows. There are murders, characters hiding, chases...exciting stuff right?? No. Every bit of it falls flat. There is absolutely no suspense...and none of the actions have any weight. 2 people are murdered and I didn't even realize it until later when the criminals mentioned "dead bodies". It just looked like they beat them up and even that was kind of off camera. Following the 2 murders you have a chase sequence which is just ridiculous and boring...another bland off screen murder...then more chasing. There is one brief moment where the boy is running towards the camera and the music fits nicely. That's really the only good part. 3/10 4. The boy catches up with his friends brother (the good actor from the opening scene) and his fellow gang members. The other characters are basically parodies. He tells them what happened and the 3 criminals catch up to him and are confronted by the gang. You think this is when the boy is saved. Well the gang does kill the criminals (yet again, the murders are just sort of kicking someone off screen). Here's the decent part of this section, I guess: the movie subverts your expectations and rather than being rescued...the boy is killed (shot...offscreen of course) by one of the gang member caricatures. That was ok...as far as being "gritty" and "real" but again everything falls flat. There is no emotional weight. 2/10 5. The closing scene continues the "kids are obsessed with cellphones and posting videos for likes" theme as it turns out the final interaction was being filmed by 2 very young kids. This scene is pure cringe. They have an inhuman level of disregard for what happened...implying kids these days are inhuman soulless monsters I guess. To add to the cringe it honestly sounds like these voice parts (you don't see the children) were recorded by adults with their voices altered. The dialogue is absolute crap. Anyways, they filmed the final murders and are going to post it to youtube and get a bunch of likes and be popular at school apparently and that's the end. 1/10 There are several more things about this movie i didn't like and no more things I did. In spite of the opening scene being good I'm rating this a 3/10 overall.

The acting, direction, production value were all phenomenal throughout this film! Truly a thrilling movie!!

For the first 47 minutes of this hour and twenty minute movie, nothing happens. Ganbangers have pointless conversations with one another, a husband and wife have pointless conversations with one another, two juveniles have pointless conversations with one another and play checkers and pool. You can't make a good home invasion movie if the first half (plus) of the movie is a total, aimless bore.