‘What Remains’ Review
Stars: Cress Williams, Kellan Lutz, Anne Heche, Juliana Destefano, Stelio Savante, Korey Scott Pollard, Major Dodge, Lindsay Walker, Brannon Cross, Marcus Gladney Jr., Maria Gajdosik | Written and Directed by Nathan Scroggins
A small-town pastor is forced to reckon with an act of forgiveness when the convict he forgave for murdering his wife returns to town five years later and comes to work for him, much to the anger of the preacher’s son. Meanwhile, the town sheriff investigates another murder that may be related.
Opening with Cress Williams’ preacher, Marshall, washing blood off his hands in a convenience store sets the stage for the mysteries of What Remains, even though the focus of the film is really the relationship between Williams’ preacher and his son (Marcus Gladney Jr.) – both of whom are struggling with the loss of a wife and mother. And the latter who can’t seem to be as forgiving as his father to his mother’s killer.
And I’ll be honest, I don’t think I could ever be as forgiving as Marshall is. Letting your wife’s killer back into your life – not only that but WORKING with him? It seems rather incredulous to say the least. But then there’s a lot of “faith” in What Remains – faith in god, faith in your fellow man, faith that people can change… At times that aspect of the film can feel a little heavy-handed (though given writer/director Nathan Scroggins’ background in Christianity and theology explains a lot here). Especially given the overly serious nature of Cress Williams’ performance – if you thought he was intense in Black Lightning, you ain’t seen nothing yet!
In a surprising performance Kellan Lutz plays the reformed killer with an air of understated calm, something we haven’t seen from the performer in the more action-orientated roles he had in the past. But the real star of the show is Anne Heche as the town’s Sheriff. In her final film role before her untimely death, Heche plays the straight-shooting, non-nonsense Sheriff with the same strength and gravitas as Frances McDormand in Fargo – she’s better than the cops under her, she notices things others don’t and she’s dogged in her determination.
So we have a hand full of characters – the preacher and his son, the convict and the Sheriff – whose stories are all interconnected and that comes to a head as the reason for the preacher’s bloody hands comes out in a tale of small-town America and it’s idea of justice. Unfortunately for filmmaker Scroggins there’s not enough to his story, instead he relies on his core cast – Cress Williams, Kellan Lutz and Anne Heche – to carry the film over the line and not even solid performances from all three can do that. Though I suspect those of a more religious persuasion may find more in What Remains, for me it felt too heavy-handed to make the film truly enjoyable.
** 2/5
What Remains is out now.
