Barron's Cove

Dramatic crime thriller announces exciting, new filmmaking voice.

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“Barron’s Cove” (available in select theaters and on VOD beginning Friday, June 6) isn’t about a bay where TACO President’s progeny seeks solace after rumoredly getting rejected from Harvard, but rather a dramatic crime thriller about every parent’s worst nightmare becoming a reality, i.e. losing a child.

Caleb Faulkner (Garrett Hedlund) works as a fixer/enforcer for his mobster uncle Benji (Stephen Lang). His marriage to Jackie (Brittany Snow) didn’t work and she’s since gotten remarried to Marla (Elia Monte-Brown), but they’re working together to be good parents to their sweet son Barron (Dante Hale).

Tragedy strikes when Barron’s classmates and friends Ethan (Christian Convery) and Phillip (Riley Torres) are playing and tie him to the railroad tracks like they’re Snidely Whiplash or some shit. A train rumbles down the tracks and runs Barron over before Ethan and Phillip can free him.

Caleb is understandably beside himself. Barron was the only light in his life and now he’s in need of answers … or revenge. Ethan is the adopted son of senatorial candidate Lyle (Hamish Linklater) who in conjunction with his police buddy Chief Alberts (Marc Menchaca) has Barron’s death ruled as a suicide to deflect any blowback.

This is unacceptable to Caleb, who’s warned to back off by Benji and investigating officers Navarro (Raúl Castillo) and Wilson (Guy Lockard). Caleb disregards their requests and takes matters into his own hands by kidnapping Ethan from school. He’ll torture the kid if he has to – one way or another he’s gonna get to the truth.

“Barron’s Cove” is the feature debut of writer/director Evan Ari Kelman and he’s off to an impressive start. The film feels like Clint Eastwood’s “A Perfect World” and “Mystic River” by way of Denis Villeneuve’s “Prisoners.” It isn’t as accomplished as these movies, but it’s also not a far cry off. I’d argue Kelman’s script may contain a twist or two too many, but it does an admirable job of swaying audiences’ allegiances.

The performances are pretty solid across the board. Hedlund definitely feels like he studied what Sean Penn did in “Mystic River” and attempted to ape it, but he’s certainly good and watchable even if he occasionally goes too big. Convery is a talented young actor who holds his own during some rather intense scenes with Hedlund, but I can’t even begin to imagine about how huge his therapy bills will be after doing this and Oz Perkins’ “The Monkey” back-to-back. (I hope this kid’s folks, handlers and the filmmakers themselves have his best interest at heart.) These guys are strongly supported by the ever-reliable Lang (he looks and acts awesome here) and “Severance”/”Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” actor Tramell Tillman, who plays Caleb’s friend Felix.

“Barron’s Cove” isn’t an easy watch, but it’s ultimately a rewarding one and the announcement of a promising new filmmaking voice.