‘Brut Force’ VOD Review
Stars: Lelia Symingtonm Tyler Posey, Patricia Velasquez, Tate Hanyok, Julian Silva, Vico Escorcia, Stelio Savante, Erik Odom, Chase Mullins, Sidney Symington | Written and Directed by Eve Symington
Written and directed by Eve Symington, Brut Force is a modern female-led film that is very much trying to capture the spirit of classic film noir and present it in a new way for a modern audience. Symington and her DP Emilie Silvestri also do something remarkable – they manage to create a wonderful dichotomy between the noir elements of the film and the sun-soaked world of California’s wine country, the beautiful landscape bathed in golden sunshine hiding a dark world in its shadowy underbelly.
The follows newly-fired reporter Sloane Sawyer (Lelia Symington), who hears that someone has been harassing vineyard workers in her hometown, so she starts investigating. When haunting beauty Dulce goes missing and the alluring Tico Reyes shows up looking for her, Sloane is drawn down a twisting trail of violence and crime, determined to help those she’s come to care about in this town… before it’s too late.
Sloan Sawyer is very much in the same mould as the classic noir detectives of old, stubborn, inquisitive and determined. Only she’s also a woman – something that informs the character greatly. As does her heritage and her upbringing. Thankfully Lelia Symington is up to the task of bringing such a complex, and troubled, character to the screen and her performance walks a fine line between the determined hero the story needs and female sensitivity which informs how the character approaches everything. It all comes together to give Sloan a depth that adds a lot to Brut Force‘s plot.
Speaking of plot, Brut Force touches on violence, racism and class struggles. Writer/director Eve Symington has also crafted a film that subtly also speaks volumes on the economic socio-political landscape of America too. The film is also very much also about family and how we deal with it. In this case, Sloane’s family leading her to leave her home and her return to it, after getting fired for punching a colleague, then is dysfunctional – further reaffirming why she left in the first place. But Sloane works through that, finds a purpose, and the fact she’s now an outsider to the very community she grew up in means she can see things differently. Which in turn allows her to see the injustices she might not have had she remained in that “wine country” bubble.
As I said in the opener, Brut Force crafts a brilliant dichotomy between the beauty of California’s wineries and the dark behaviour of the people but there’s also a dichotomy in Sloane too. She wants to get away from her past but when she confronts it she feels compelled to stay and right wrongs – wrongs that eventually will force her away again. It’s a complex plot but one that reflects the very nature of wine. After all, wine is made up of subtle flavours, different notes to the smell and taste – all coming together to create something wonderful.
Which is exactly what Eve Symington has done with Brut Force.
**** 4/5
Brut Force is available on VOD now.
