Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what I’ve seen over the past week either in film or television. On the film side, if I have written a full length review already, I will post a link to that review. Otherwise, I’ll give a brief snippet of my thoughts on the film with a full review to follow at some point later. For television shows, seasons and what not, I’ll post individual comments here about each of them as I see fit.

So, here is what I watched this past week:

Red Hill

Sometimes the most engaging films are the ones that twist genre stereotypes to fit their own ends. Take for instance, Red Hill, which seemed to be advertised as a fairly straight forward thriller. The story of an escaped killer come back to the small town he lived in before being shipped off to prison. As he arrives and slowly begins killing off the townfolk, the new constable of the town, a gun shy father-to-be (True Blood‘s Ryan Kwanten) must make the tough decisions that will mean the difference between life and death.

As the film enters its final act, a new revelation turns the plot on a dime and you’re suddenly left wondering just how dangerous a situation this newcomer is in. Kwanten sloughs off the Southern accent I’ve come to know in True Blood and shifts from wanton sex symbol to genuine lead. He has some room to improve, but he proves a charismatic character with his native accent in tow. And I’d be interesting to see what he can do with better directors. For the most part, Patrick Hughes has a strong debut here as writer an director, more so in the literary aspects. The film doesn’t move as quickly as it probably should, but as the film winds its way to a conclusion that keeps you off your equilibrium, you are satisfied with much of what has transpired.