Ben Manalowitz (B.J. Novak), a journalist and podcaster from New York City, travels to West Texas to investigate the death of a girl he was hooking up with.
Her family seems to think they had an intense bond, but, to him, it was nothing more than a Tinder fling. Ben decides to make a podcast out of the eccentric characters he meets in this murder-mystery. In turn, “Vengeance” turns into a sort of live-action version of a podcast. To say more about the plot would ruin some of the surprises in store for the audience.
That’s the gist of Novak’s directorial debut, “Vengeance,” a fine-as-it-goes detective story that tackles the media, American polarization and the opioid crisis. Talk about ambition, Novak’s film has it in spades.
This is a well-directed and paced mystery that never loses its grip on you until its preachy climax shows up. Regardless, it’s a curioys mystery and features what might just be the best performance Ashton Kutcher has ever given us as a sketchy music producer who may have had a romantic connection to the dead girl.
I loved how Novak kept on making parallels between big city detachment and the blue-collar reality of rural America. He’s not patronizing red state America either, just trying to find an understanding of a part of the country that feels incredibly distant from the big city. [B]
Sony has acquired the feature film rights to "Mouthwashing," the acclaimed psychological horror game. The studio has hired Kusama to direct, and she will bring her most reliable writers, Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, with her.