Shimmer Lake | |
---|---|
Directed by | Oren Uziel |
Written by | Oren Uziel |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Jarin Blaschke |
Edited by | Blake Maniquis |
Music by | Joseph Trapanese |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
Countries |
|
Language | English |
Shimmer Lake is a 2017 American neo-noir crime film written and directed by Oren Uziel, in his directorial debut. The film stars Benjamin Walker, Wyatt Russell, Rainn Wilson, Adam Pally, Mark Rendall, John Michael Higgins, Ron Livingston, Stephanie Sigman, and Rob Corddry. The film was released on Netflix on June 9, 2017. Walker plays a small-town sheriff who investigates a bank robbery that involves his brother and two former friends. The story is told in reverse.
On Friday, Andy Sikes cleans up in his basement, while his wife, Martha, speaks to his brother, sheriff Zeke Sikes above. When his young daughter, Sally, comes down to the basement, he silences her and makes her promise not to reveal his presence. Suspicious, Zeke investigates, but Andy escapes by stealing a neighbor's car. Zeke, revealed to have been shot during a bank robbery in which Andy participated, picks up his partner, Reed Ethington, and meets with FBI agents Kyle Walker and Kurt Biltmore. They investigate the house of judge Brad Dawkins, finding him dead. After an argument with the FBI agents over how to handle the investigation, Zeke steps out from his office. Meanwhile, Andy enters a forest to meet with Steph Burton, the wife of his accomplice, Ed Burton. He loads the bank's money in her car, but before he can get in, he is shot and killed by an unseen assailant, whose arm is bearing a tattoo: "State Champs".
On Thursday, Zeke and the other cops investigate meth addict Chris Morrow, who is believed to have been the getaway driver. They find him dead, and Zeke reveals that Andy, a former prosecutor, was widely rumored to have been corrupt after a questionable plea deal that got Ed and Chris off easy in the accidental death of Steph's and Ed's son in a meth lab explosion. Elsewhere, Judge Dawkins angrily demands that an incriminating tape being used to blackmail him be destroyed. At her house, Steph intentionally injures herself. When Zeke, Reed, and the FBI agents arrive at her house, she tells them that Ed assaulted her when she refused to leave with him. Under pressure, she admits he said something about leaving for Mexico. Dawkins meets with his teenage boyfriend, only to be surprised by Andy. Dawkins, desperate to protect his secret, attacks Andy but is killed. Andy flees back to his house and hides in the basement.
Wednesday, the day after the heist, Chris and Andy attempt to figure out what to do after Ed has seemingly double crossed them by taking the money for himself. Leaving Chris with instructions to stay hidden, Andy goes back into town to check on his brother, who he hears on the news has been shot by Ed. As Zeke meets the FBI agents, Chris gets a phone call from Steph, who invites him over to split the money. She begins undressing, seducing Chris, who is confused because he believes she would hate him for his part in the death of her son. Judge Dawkins bursts into the hotel room, anxious to retrieve the tape. Steph provokes Chris into attacking Dawkins, who kills him. With both the murder and the tape used to pressure him, Steph forces him to hold the money for Ed. At his house, Dawkins breaks down, crying, and tells his wife that he always intended to be a better husband to her.
Andy, Chris, and Ed (whose "State Champs" tattoo is revealed) plan the robbery on Tuesday despite Steph's attempts to talk them out of it. After an argument over Ed's involvement in their son's death, Ed says the heist is the only way for them to escape their current life. Dawkins, who owns the bank, reluctantly gives the safe's combination to Ed in return for Ed's promise to give him the tape. After loading the bank's vault with money, Dawkins thanks Zeke for personally watching it overnight. Before leaving, Dawkins suggests that Zeke kill anyone who attempts to rob it instead of arresting them. As Zeke reads a book, Ed and Andy break into the bank and take Zeke hostage. Once Ed has the situation under control, Andy leaves to watch the door and Ed opens the vault. Zeke wounds Ed with a gun hidden in the paper bag that holds his dinner and Steph and he reveal that they are the parents of the dead child, before killing Ed. It becomes clear Steph and Zeke, who has the same arm tattoo, planned to kill everyone responsible for their child's death. Zeke asks Steph to shoot him in the arm (which has been numbed). While Steph hides Ed's body at Shimmer Lake, Zeke begins his investigation.
Screenwriter Oren Uziel said that his script had been a spec script he wrote about one year before finishing up a similar spec script for God Particle (2018). [1] The film serves as Uziel's directorial debut. [2] Principal photography began on October 13, 2015. [3]
On September 23, 2016, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film. [2] The film was released on Netflix on June 9, 2017. [4] [5]
Rotten Tomatoes reported a 67% approval rating based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. [6]
Evan Jacobs, in his review for Movieweb, calls the film a "tour de force", and writes that the film, "from first time director Oren Uziel, is the kind of calling card that has been used to launch careers, like that of Quentin Tarantino." He later writes, "Shimmer Lake honestly belongs in the company of Pulp Fiction." [7] Randall Colburn of Consequence of Sound wrote that the film's gimmick, being told in reverse, is not essential to the plot but enhances what he called "an otherwise-rote piece of pulp storytelling". [8]
Variety listed Shimmer Lake as the standout 2017 contender for the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. [9]
Blank Check is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Rupert Wainwright and starring Brian Bonsall, Karen Duffy, Miguel Ferrer, James Rebhorn, Tone Lōc, Jayne Atkinson and Michael Lerner. It was released on February 11, 1994, by Walt Disney Pictures. The film follows a boy who inherits a blank check and uses it to buy a house under an alter ego but is soon being searched for by several members of the bank he cashed it under. The film received negative reviews and grossed $30.8 million domestically.
That Darn Cat! is a 1965 American thriller comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Hayley Mills and Dean Jones in a story about bank robbers, a kidnapping and a mischievous cat. Produced by Walt Disney Productions, the film was based on the 1963 novel Undercover Cat by Gordon and Mildred Gordon. The title song was written by the Sherman Brothers and sung by Bobby Darin.
Oliver Twist is a 2005 drama film directed by Roman Polanski. The screenplay by Ronald Harwood adapts Charles Dickens's 1838 novel of the same name. It is an international co-production of the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic and France.
Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, writer, and director best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom The Office (2005–2013), for which he received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Undercover Cat is a novel by Gordon and Mildred Gordon, about a cat who assists the FBI in tracking down a pair of bank robbers. It was first published in 1963 by Doubleday.
Kiss the Girls is a psychological thriller novel by American writer James Patterson, the second to star his recurring main character Alex Cross, an African-American psychologist and policeman. It was first published in 1995, and was adapted into a film of the same name in 1997.
Andrew Baines Bernard is a fictional character portrayed by Ed Helms in the NBC comedy television series The Office.
Oliver Twist is a 2007 British television adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1838 novel Oliver Twist, written by Sarah Phelps and directed by Coky Giedroyc. It consists of five episodes, broadcast on BBC One from 18 to 22 December 2007. It aired on PBS' Masterpiece Classic in the United States on 15 and 22 February 2009, in two ninety-minute installments. In Australia, ABC1 also opted to air this series as a two-part special each Sunday at 8:30 pm from 20 December 2009.
Oliver Twist is the title character and protagonist of the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. He was the first child protagonist in a British novel.
Longmire is an American neo-Western crime drama television series that premiered on June 3, 2012, on the A&E network, developed by John Coveny and Hunt Baldwin. The series is based on the Walt Longmire Mysteries series of novels by Craig Johnson. It centers on Walt Longmire, a sheriff in Wyoming. He is assisted by staff, friends, and his daughter in investigating major crimes within his jurisdiction.
The Get Down is an American musical drama television series created by Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis. The series debuted on Netflix on August 12, 2016, and was cancelled after one season.
The Cloverfield Paradox is a 2018 American science fiction horror film directed by Julius Onah and written by Oren Uziel, from a story by Uziel and Doug Jung, and produced by J. J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber. It is the third film in the Cloverfield franchise, following Cloverfield (2008) and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016). It stars Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O'Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo, and Zhang Ziyi. It follows an international group of astronauts aboard a space station who, after using a particle accelerator to try to solve Earth's energy crisis, must find a way home when the planet seemingly vanishes.
The 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal was a corruption scandal, initially involving sportswear manufacturer Adidas as well as several college basketball programs associated with the brand but now involving many programs not affiliated with Adidas.
Christmas Inheritance is a 2017 Canadian Christmas comedy-drama film directed by Ernie Barbarash and written by Dinah Eng. The film stars Eliza Taylor, Jake Lacy and Andie MacDowell.
In the early hours of August 13, 2018, in Frederick, Colorado, American oil field operator Christopher Lee Watts murdered his pregnant wife Shanann (34) by strangulation, and their two children Bella (4) and Celeste (3) by suffocation. He buried Shanann in a shallow grave near an oil-storage facility, and dumped his children's bodies into crude oil tanks. Watts initially maintained his innocence in his family's disappearance, but was arrested on August 15, after confessing in an interview with detectives to murdering Shanann. Months later he also admitted to murdering his children.
Rust Creek is a 2018 American crime thriller film directed by Jen McGowan and written by Julie Lipson. It is based on an original story by Julie Lipson and Stu Pollard. Hermione Corfield stars as a college student who becomes lost while on a road trip and is hunted by criminals who believe her to be a witness to their crimes. It premiered at the 2018 Bentonville Film Festival and was released theatrically on January 4, 2019.
Adam Saunders is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is the CEO and a founding member of Footprint Features.
Oren Uziel is an American film screenwriter, director, and producer best known for his work on Mortal Kombat: Rebirth (2010), 22 Jump Street (2014), The Cloverfield Paradox (2018), and The Lost City (2022).
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)