Hellion (film)

Last updated
Hellion
Hellion poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Kat Candler
Written byKat Candler
Produced byJonathan Duffy
Andrew Logan
Kelly Williams
Starring Aaron Paul
Juliette Lewis
Josh Wiggins
Deke Garner
CinematographyBrett Pawlak
Edited byAlan Canant
Production
companies
Across Town Productions
IFC Films
Arts+Labor
Silver Sail Entertainment
Distributed bySundance Selects
Release dates
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$55,708 [1]

Hellion (also known as Retribution [2] ) is a 2014 American drama film written and directed by Kat Candler. The film stars Aaron Paul as an emotionally absent father of two sons. It also stars Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins, Deke Garner, Jonny Mars, and Annalee Jefferies.

Contents

The film premiered in-competition in the US Dramatic Category at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014. [3] [4]

Plot

Thirteen-year-old Jacob's increasing delinquent behavior forces Child Protective Services to place his little brother, Wes, with his aunt. Jacob and his emotionally absent father, Hollis, must finally take responsibility for their actions and for each other in order to bring Wes home.

Cast

Actor Jonny Mars and director Kat Candler in 2014 Jonny Mars and Kat Candler interview.jpg
Actor Jonny Mars and director Kat Candler in 2014

Reception

Critical response

Hellion received mixed to positive reviews upon its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, although newcomer Josh Wiggins's performance was especially praised. As of February 2023, the film has an approval rating of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 50 reviews with an average score of 6.20/10. [5] The film also has a score of 55 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 24 critics indicating "mixed or average reviews". [6]

Peter Debruge, in his review for Variety , compared the film with Terrence Malick's 2011 film The Tree of Life and said that "“Hellion” offers a more conventional plot, but that is also its chief limitation, somehow reducing the complexity of its verite character study to relatively straightforward psychology" and praised Wiggins performance by saying that "Newcomer Josh Wiggins steals the show in this verite-style story of an agitated 13-year-old delinquent." [7]

David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of Paul and Wiggins, in his review he said that "Aaron Paul's wrung-out performance as a widowed blue-collar father who has given up on life, all but abandoning his sons to fend for themselves. And the work of young newcomer Josh Wiggins will turn heads as the most volatile of those two kids, spinning out of control. The actors' raw honesty and the unvarnished authenticity of the Southeast Texas environment lend weight to this slow-burn drama about responsibility, even if its storytelling is unrelentingly downbeat and lacks muscularity." [8]

Matt Goldberg of Collider.com gave the film a positive review by saying that "Despite all of its wandering, loosely tied together stories and uneven pacing, there's an odd sweetness to Kat Candler's Hellion. Rather than broken characters focused solely on self-help and improving their own station, it's an attempt to salvage a family even though that family may be too damaged to repair. Characters who do bad things but are good deep down is undoubtedly saccharine, but it works thanks to Candler's sincere direction and earnest performances from lead actors Aaron Paul and Josh Wiggins." [9]

Rodrigo Perez of Indiewire criticized the film and said that "Admittedly heartbreaking and moving in its final moments, “Hellion” just can't quite convince or coalesce its ideas of struggle, pain and fury in a meaningful or new way. Our charitable human nature may empathize with everyone's plight, but the recognition that much of its dismal sensibility is far too calculating and predestined is certainly disconcerting" but ultimately praised the cast performance by saying that Hellion, however, does possess strong characteristics in the form of performances—the teenager Josh Wiggins is definitely a stand-out that people will be talking about post-festival, and Juliette Lewis and the boys, Deke Garner, Jonny Mars and Walt Roberts, all deliver authentically convincing turns." [10]

Accolades

YearAward / Film FestivalCategoryRecipient(s)Result
2014 Dallas International Film Festival Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize Kat Candler Won [11]
Edinburgh International Film Festival Audience AwardKat CandlerNominated [12]
Houston Film Critics Society Awards Texas Independent Film Award Kat CandlerNominated [13]
SXSW Film Festival SXSW Gamechanger Emergent Woman Director Award - Special MentionKat CandlerWon [14]
Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury PrizeKat CandlerNominated [3]
DeadCENTER Film Festival Grand Jury Narrative FeatureKat CandlerWon [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliette Lewis</span> American actress (born 1973)

Juliette Lake Lewis is an American actress and singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in projects with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, appearing in various independent and arthouse films. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and two Primetime Emmys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kat Candler</span> American independent filmmaker

Kat Candler is an American film writer, producer, and director. She wrote and directed the 2014 film Hellion, and has worked on television shows including 13 Reasons Why and Queen Sugar.

<i>American Dream</i> (film) 1990 film by Barbara Kopple

American Dream is a 1990 British-American cinéma vérité documentary film directed by Barbara Kopple and co-directed by Cathy Caplan, Thomas Haneke, and Lawrence Silk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Greer</span> American actress (born 1975)

Judith Therese Evans, known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She rose to prominence for her supporting roles in the films Jawbreaker (1999), What Women Want (2000), 13 Going on 30 (2004), Elizabethtown (2005), 27 Dresses (2008), and Love & Other Drugs (2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Riemelt</span> German actor

Max Riemelt is a German actor, known internationally for playing Wolfgang Bogdanow in the Netflix series Sense8. In Germany, he is known for many years of television and cinema.

<i>The Wackness</i> 2008 film by Jonathan Levine

The Wackness is a 2008 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Jonathan Levine and starring Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Mary-Kate Olsen, Famke Janssen, and Olivia Thirlby. The film is distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Paul</span> American actor (born 1979)

Aaron Paul is an American actor and producer. He is best known for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series Breaking Bad (2008–2013), for which he won several awards, including the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2014), Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film (2013), and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. This made him one of only two actors to win the latter category three times since its separation into comedy and drama. He has also won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television three times, more than any other actor in that category. He reprised the role of Jesse Pinkman in the 2019 Netflix film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie and again during the final season of the spin-off series Better Call Saul in 2022.

<i>Assassination of a High School President</i> 2008 American comedy film

Assassination of a High School President is a 2008 American neo noir comedy film directed by Brett Simon and starring Reece Thompson, Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton, Emily Meade and Michael Rapaport. It was written by Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski. It premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Chris Ohlson is an American video artist and director based in Brooklyn, New York.

<i>Smashed</i> (film) 2012 film directed by James Ponsoldt

Smashed is a 2012 American drama film directed by James Ponsoldt, written by Ponsoldt and Susan Burke, and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul. Winstead and Paul play a married couple, Kate and Charlie Hannah, both alcoholics. After a series of embarrassing incidents caused by her drinking habit, Kate decides to get sober with the help of a coworker and a sponsor from Alcoholics Anonymous.

<i>Whiplash</i> (2014 film) 2014 American independent psychological drama film by Damien Chazelle

Whiplash is a 2014 American independent psychological drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle, starring Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons, Paul Reiser, and Melissa Benoist. The film follows the ambitious music student and aspiring jazz drummer Andrew Neiman (Teller), who is pushed to his limit by his abusive instructor Terence Fletcher (Simmons) at the fictitious Shaffer Conservatory in New York City.

<i>The Internets Own Boy</i> 2014 American film

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz is a 2014 American biographical documentary film about Aaron Swartz written, directed, and produced by Brian Knappenberger. The film premiered in the US Documentary Competition program category at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2014.

<i>Land Ho!</i> 2014 film directed by Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz

Land Ho! is a 2014 adventure comedy film, co-written and co-directed by Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz. The film made its world premiere at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2014. It also screened at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Nantucket Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival, and BFI London Film Festival.

Jen McGowan is an American filmmaker. At the 2014 South by Southwest Film Festival, McGowan won the Gamechanger Award for Kelly & Cal, her first feature film. McGowan is the creator of filmpowered.com, an international skill-sharing, networking and job resource for professional women in film and television.

<i>Crown Heights</i> (film) 2017 American film

Crown Heights is a 2017 American biographical crime drama film written and directed by Matt Ruskin. Adapted from a This American Life podcast, the film tells the true story of Colin Warner who was wrongfully convicted of murder, and how his best friend Carl King devoted his life to proving Colin's innocence. The film stars Lakeith Stanfield as Colin Warner and Nnamdi Asomugha as Carl King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Wiggins</span> American actor (born 1998)

Josh Wiggins is an American actor, best known for his role of Jacob Wilson in the drama Hellion (2014), Justin Wincott in the adventure drama Max (2015) and Franky Winter in Giant Little Ones (2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Sundance Film Festival</span>

The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. The closing night film was Louis Black and Karen Bernstein's Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny.

<i>Joshy</i> 2016 film

Joshy is a 2016 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Jeff Baena. It stars Thomas Middleditch, Adam Pally, Alex Ross Perry, Nick Kroll, Brett Gelman, Jenny Slate and Lauren Graham. It was shown in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The film was released on August 12, 2016, by Lionsgate Premiere.

<i>Monster</i> (2018 film) 2018 film

Monster is a 2018 American legal drama film directed by Anthony Mandler, from a screenplay by Radha Blank, Cole Wiley, and Janece Shaffer, based on the novel of the same name by Walter Dean Myers. It stars Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jennifer Ehle, Tim Blake Nelson, Nas, ASAP Rocky, Paul Ben-Victor, John David Washington, Jennifer Hudson, and Jeffrey Wright. Wright, Nas, and John Legend also serve as executive producers on the film.

<i>Hala</i> (film) 2019 film

Hala is a 2019 American drama film written and directed by Minhal Baig. The film was screened in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and was released in a limited theatrical release on November 22, 2019, followed by digital streaming on December 6, 2019, by Apple TV+. The film received generally positive reviews. It is based on a previous short film by Baig made in 2016 by the same name.

References

  1. ↑ "Hellion". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  2. ↑ "DVD Review – Retribution (2014)". 12 January 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Aaron Paul discusses 'Hellion,' 'Better Call Saul' and Corn Pops". Archived from the original on January 28, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Sundance red carpet photos, review: 'Hellion' with Aaron Paul". Archived from the original on January 26, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Hellion (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Hellion Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Sundance Film Review: 'Hellion'". 18 January 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Hellion: Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter . 18 January 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Sundance 2014: HELLION Review". Collider . 18 January 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Sundance Review: Bleakness, Anger & Pain Mark 'Hellion' Starring Aaron Paul" . Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Congratulations to the DIFF 2014 winning filmmakers!" . Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Watch all our interviews from the Edinburgh International Film Festival" . Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  13. ↑ Your Houston News (December 17, 2014). ""Birdman" leads Houston Film Critics nominations for 8th Annual Awards". YourHoustonNews.com. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ "SXSW Film Awards: 'Fort Tilden,' 'The Great Invisible' Win Top Prizes!" . Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Aaron Paul-Starring 'Hellion' Takes Top Honor at deadCENTER Film Festival" . Retrieved April 8, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.