Hazy nostalgia tinged with mysticism lends a warm glow to the leisurely-paced backwoods Prohibition drama THE LAST BEYOND (Indican Pictures, 2019), whose lyrical imagery gives it a simple yet exquisite beauty which is inevitably shattered by violence.
The deceptively simple story begins with young rancher Stratton Eiseley (Chris Snyder) losing his land to the bank after the death of his father and deciding to become a moonshiner with the help of Native American boy Joe Running Elk (Noah Watts) and his wise old grandfather Flying Bear (Stephen Small Salmon).
Along the way Stratton meets and falls in love with Gracie (Jolene Andersen), an aspiring writer from the city, while running afoul of a corrupt sheriff whose methods are shockingly brutal.
Writer-director Graham DuBose's screenplay is thoughtful and unhurried, giving us time to settle in and get to know these characters while reveling in the rustic atmosphere of their Montana surroundings.
The lead performances are quietly convincing and subtle, even when old Flying Bear is weaving supernatural tales around the crackling campfire and Stratton and Gracie weave their charmingly underplayed romance amidst gently swaying fields of grass.
Scenes of violence, mostly involving the ruthless sheriff's efforts to track down and dispatch Stratton's modest moonshine operation hidden away in a secluded mountain clearing, are similarly played with a matter-of-fact realism.
In each case, DuBose knows just where to set up the camera and when to let it run without fancy moves or cutting, his keenly artistic eye more than compensating for a mostly no-frills budget.
The film sparkles with gorgeous photography of 1930s backwoods Americana, whether in its smalltown settings replete with antique props, automobiles, costumes, and other authentic touches (right down to the Lone Star Studios music that plays when they're watching an old western on Grace's projector), or the visual splendor of its breathtaking nature scenes.
The story itself is as much about people living off-the-grid in the wilderness and getting back to nature, spiritually as well as physically, as it is about moonshining.
Still, that latter aspect of THE LAST BEYOND gradually and inevitably comes to the fore--complicated by the appearance of Gracie's vindictive estranged husband--until the final act becomes a suspenseful life-and-death conflict of primitive proportions that has us rooting for the moonshiners against the bloodthirsty, shotgun-wielding lawmen.
As Quentin Tarantino once said of Howard Hawks' RIO BRAVO, THE LAST BEYOND is one of those movies whose characters the viewer can simply enjoy "hanging out" with, even as its plot moves inexorably toward a heartrending conclusion which, as deftly handled by writer-director DuBose, is achingly poignant.
More info at Indican Pictures
TECH SPECS
Runtime: 87 minutes
Format: 1:78 HD
Sound: Dolby Sr.
Country: USA
Language: English
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