A Single Shot (2013)

Directed by: David M. Rosenthal
Country: USA / UK / Canada

Movie Review: “A Single Shot” is a murky neo-noir thriller written by Mathew F. Jones (based in his own novel), and directed by David M.Rosenthal. Sam Rockwell plays decently a solitary hunter named John Moon who is doing the best he can to retrieve his family, but an accident in the woods will change the course of his life forever. John accidentally shot a teenager when pursuing a deer, posteriorly finding her place and a box with a hundred thousand dollars. Scared, he keeps the money for himself and hides the body, but from that moment on, he becomes victim of several intimidating threats that put his secret uncovered. His wife and kids are also in danger and John Moon starts to ask himself who could be the ones behind his insomnias. His hints include two drug dealers who are frequenting his wife’s house, an unreliable lawyer who is working on his divorce case, and his long pal Simon who seems to live for drink. Adopting a similar dark atmosphere as in Smarzowski’s “The Dark House” or Granik’s “Winter’s Bone”, “A Single Shot” maintains the mystery till final but stumbles in crucial moments. Some aspects should have been clearer, like Simon, drunk, grumbling a long and almost indistinguishable explanation about the money’s origin, or how John was tracked. Although not totally satisfying in its details, its intriguing story of greed and degradation punctuated by accurate frames of the backwoods deserves a chance.