[yasr_overall_rating]
Billy and Sarah, two delinquent teenage lovers from the suburbs of Los Angeles, travel to a small southern town to falsely claim a dead friend’s inheritance.
“Rushlights” tells the story of a young L.A. couple, Sarah (Haley Webb) and Billy (Josh Henderson), who after they discover the dead body of Sarah’s roommate Ellen, from an apparent overdose, leave town for a while to let things blow over. While staying at a sleazy motel, going through her bags, Sarah realizes that in the panicked rush to leave the apartment, she accidentally grabbed some of Ellen’s personal belongings and discovers that she was set to acquire a rather large inheritance from a recently deceased uncle in the small Texas town of Tremo. Upon further inspection, Billy states that Sarah and Ellen looked very similar and that she could pass for Ellen were they to go to Texas to claim her inheritance. Initially very reluctant, Sarah gradually acquiesces and the couple head to the Lone Star State.
Once there, they are greeted by Cameron Brogden (Aidan Quinn), an attorney who states he is acting on behalf of Sarah’s late uncle’s estate. Sarah signs the necessary forms and passes for Ellen and while the paperwork is being processed, they decide to stay at her uncle’s house. No sooner has nighttime arrived than strangers begin to turn up and within a few days, Cameron informs them that a young man has come forward, claiming to be an illegitimate son of Sarah’s late uncle and therefore, an entitlement to his estate. Naturally, this slows everything down and with strangers appearing everywhere, trying to intimidate the young couple, and with the town’s lawman, Sheriff Brogden (Beau Bridges), Cameron’s brother, watching their every move, Sarah and Billy decide to take matters into their own hands, before it’s too late.
“Rushlights” is evocative of Joel & Ethan Coen’s gritty directorial feature, “Blood Simple.” Each film is set in a small Texas town, where the central characters are surrounded by mystery, mayhem, and murder, and both possess top-notch performances from their perspective casts. Director Antoni Stutz, in his second directorial feature, creates a typically Southern atmosphere, filled with a ferocity and forcefulness that would make the Coen brothers proud. The entire cast is effective and veteran actors Beau Bridges and Aidan Quinn chew up most of the surrounding scenery but young cast members Haley Webb and Josh Henderson, best known for playing John Ross Ewing in the new “Dallas” reboot, hold their own against the old pros. While the movie sags somewhat during the middle act, the ending ties up all the loose ends and leaves us with a somewhat predictable but acceptable finale.
Available now on Video On Demand
Rushlights Unrated Trailer from Rushlights LLC on Vimeo.
