Reed’s Point – Movie Review
76 Minutes, Not Rated
Written by Tricia Aurand, Suzanne DeLaurentiis and Sandy Lo
Directed by Dale Fabrigar (D-Railed)
**NOTE: this post will be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, enjoy this brief look at my thoughts. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
Reed’s Point is psychological-thriller/creature-feature that tells of Sarah and Alex, two survivors of an RV crash near the New Jersey Pine Barrens. On the anniversary of the accident, Sarah and Alex drive to Reed’s Point to investigate the crash site. Things go downhill quickly as they find themselves stuck in the woods unsure of who they can trust and questioning if monsters really do exist.
Reed’s Point is directed by Dale Fabrigar, who’s D-Railed I previously reviewed. This is not that movie.
The Jersey Devil is a well-plumbed cryptozoic trope, and I will give the screenwriters some credit in attempting to spin a little uniqueness into the legend by the time the films super-short run-time expires.
But that’s about all the credit I can give them.
The script is otherwise unremarkable, and the cast seems intent on simply reading the words on the page, instead of trying to imbue them with some life or energy.
This is most egregious in the case of our lead, Sarah, played by “influencer” Sasha Anne, who is very active on Instagram and TikTok, with hundreds of thousands of followers.
After the film, I decided to take a look at some of her social media, and I was astonished to see someone with energy to burn. Animated, silly, a talented singer… a far cry from the emotionless delivery vehicle we see in Reed’s Point. I mean, there’s traumatic experience and there’s just a bad performance.
Normally, at this point, I’d blame the actor for such a thing, but having seen the authentic (as in “undirected on social media” authentic as opposed to “real”) Sasha Anne, I have to blame the director explicitly wanting the role to be done this way.
As this is Sasha Anne’s first film, I would guess she wasn’t confident enough to question anything she was told to do (or not do).
The result is the dead-eyed, monotone depiction of Sarah we get here, which kills 99% of any dramatic tension that might otherwise be generated.
But she’s not alone. The rest of the performances are not much better, and so while the Jersey Devil provides a suitable scaffold for the story being told, it’s simply not enough to bear the weight of the performances being presented to tell that story.
Sadly, because–again–I liked the general thrust of the story. Everything around it just let me down.
Reed’s Point is currently available on Digital and DVD and stars Sasha Anne, Julia Kelly, Evan Adams, Madison Ekstrand, Anthony Jensen, Joseph Almani, Lanett Tachel, and Joe Estevez.
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