Detour 2016

Detour 2016
R | 1h 37min | Thriller | 20 January 2017 (USA)
Storyline:
Law student and all round good guy, Harper, suspects that his scheming step-father, Vincent, is responsible for the car crash that sent his mother into a coma. Drowning his sorrows one evening in a seedy L.A whiskey bar, Harper is interrupted by a tough looking redneck called Johnny Ray who offers to 'take care' of his step-dad for the cool sum of US$20,000. Angry, intent on revenge and fuelled by alcohol, Harper agrees to the deal and spends the rest of his evening downing shots with Johnny Ray. The next morning, Harper awakes to the mother of all hangovers with hazy memory of the previous night's events. Answering a knock at the front door, he is surprised to find Johnny Ray and his beautiful but distant girlfriend, Cherry, ready and waiting to drive to Vegas to kill Vincent. Harper's claims that he was drunk and didn't know what he was doing mean nothing to Johnny Ray who is more threatening than ever in the cold light of day. Harper quickly realises that there is no easy way out; if he wants to survive this, he has no choice but to go along with the plan. What follows is a tense and deftly constructed noir thriller in which Harper's story takes an unexpected detour, presenting the audience with two alternate versions of events with two very different outcomes. Did Harper really want to kill his step father and which road did he actually take?
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for some strong violence, sexual content, nudity, drug use, and language throughout
User review:
The combination of split screen devices, misdirected focus, and wide-angle hallucination scenes are evidence of the complex nature of the plot. Every new encounter sends the characters away from moral decisions and into a deeper, darker hell.
Tye Sheridan puts up a very believable performance, both as the innocent and the schemer. He embraces the role perfectly, winning the hearts of the audience. The rest of the cast have their identities revealed in bits, heightening the suspense of the movie. The gradual character reveals, combined with the rapid unfolding of the different situations, are quite engaging.
Director Christopher Smith proves himself as a master of the noir genre with this movie. The atmosphere and the characters keep one guessing what could happen next. The twists and surprises of this film are completely unpredictable. Also, most of the cast blend well into their roles, and even step out of their characters in the course of the movie, creating more suspense.
Harper's accomplices do a great job, though it is hard to imagine Emory Cohen as a villain. The tattoos all over his body do not make him appear nasty enough. Also, Bel Powley (Cherry) does not seem to have much to do in the film, apart from looking pretty and make occasional comments. Her character should have been developed further, as it appears there is more to her story.
Movies like these tend to lose steam towards the end. Thankfully, Detour does not follow this trend. Although the plot is a little familiar, there is still much to look forward to as the movie progresses. The director has skillfully put together a cast and script that work collectively to keep the narrative moving at a good pace. There are plenty of nail-biting moments to keep fans of this genre glued to the very end.