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Terri Lee (Lee Eddy) is a news anchor at a minor local TV station who
attracts some attention mostly for spouting especially riditulous
conspiracy theories, like the one that pedophilic lizard people hold
children for rape and consumption in the basement of a specific pizza
parlor - things that are taken seriously by hardly anybody - hardly
anybody but Karen Black (Alexandria Payne), an intern on her show who got
fired after 20 minutes but who has the ambition to become an investigative
journalist in her own right. So she decides to do some digging at the
pizza parlor of her own, and maybe save the children held there in the
process. Thing is, she can't do this alone, so she walks into a meeting of
the local militia to ask for assistance. However, the militia is much too
caught up in its leadership debate between gun-crazy Philip (John Valley)
and voice of reason Hollis (Mike Dellens) to really take much notice of
Karen's issue - all except for one, Duncan (Tinus Seaux), who's somehow
obsessed with Terri Lee. Oh, and with guns. So despite all the red flags
Karen, an Afro-American, encounters, from the confederate flag license
plate to the Nazi tattoo across his chest, she accepts his help. However,
during their cross-country trip to the pizza parlor, Karen and Duncan form
some sort of bond - quite despite the fact that Duncan shoots somebody in
self defense on the way and makes her help him get rid of the body. Thing
is, at the pizza parlor they can't find any evidence that would support
Terri Lee's claim, starting with the fact that the place doesn't even have
a basement, so this turns out to be a non-story - until of course Philip
storms in, armed to the teeth and desparate for attention, and starts a
massacre ... Quite an unusual blend of conspiracy theory
thriller and hard-hitting satire, that actually works much better than it
ought to, because despite its hair-raising premise it doesn't slip off
into farce but finds heart in the story, in the process making its
protagonist Duncan relatable even to viewers (like me) who share none of
his views, in the process giving him a pretty strong character arc. And
Tinus Seaux' strong central performance, supported by a very able
ensemble, of course helps with that. But the film's also on point when it
comes to action and the necessary violence, to make this into one cool
piece of genre entertainment that in the end comes across as thoughtful as
it is tense.
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