10 Best Indie Movies Of 2016 (So Far)
5. River
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%
Writer/director Jamie M. Dagg spent several months trying to get permission from the communist government of South East Asian state Laos to shoot his movie in their beautiful but poor country, popular with western backpackers and volunteers. River follows John Lake, a doctor working for an NGO who, after stumbling across a local woman being raped, accidentally beats her Australian assailant to death.
Shaken by the turn of events and fearing that he will end up in prison if he attempts to explain the situation to authorities, John flees. The decision is justified when he discovers that he is not only wanted for the murder of a Senator's son, but also for the sexual assault of the very woman he was trying to help.
Lead actor Rossif Sutherland (second son of Donald) is likable and, perhaps more importantly, believable as a terrified young man desperately looking to escape a suddenly hostile and alien paradise. His rangy physique serves the action sequences well, though it also suits his character, who seems thinner and increasingly ragged with every passing scene.
Like its loping star, this fish-out-of water thriller is lean and determined to make an impression. Dagg employs a handheld approach to filming the often violent action, keeping tight when he means to enhance John's panic but not forgetting to take advantage of Laos' cinematic landscape - it's a film that is as gritty as it is great to look at.