Outlier

This intriguing but deliberately paced psychological thriller is about a woman who is rescued from her abusive boyfriend but her "hero" may not be much better.

“Outlier” has all the hallmarks you’d expect of a COVID production — small cast, low budget, a story that focuses on evoking a feeling of dread and isolation. Expect to see more movies like this over the next few months.

Jessica Denton plays Olivia, a young woman living in an abusive relationship. Her boyfriend, James (Logan Fleisher), may not necessarily leave her black-and-blue, but he’s emotionally controlling and refuses to let Olivia live her own life, even controlling where and when she goes anyway.

As the story opens, she is rescued when James stops at a gas station and is witnessed trying to make her get back into his truck. Thomas (Thomas Cheslek), a soft-voiced fellow who also happens to lumber like a linebacker, oversees her plight and intervenes along with another guy (Dwight Alan). Just when it seems like violence will erupt from the confrontation, James backs off and Olivia accepts a ride from Thomas, who offers to take her wherever she needs to go to feel safe.

Except things don’t work out that way. Thomas offers to let her stay with him at his remote lakeside cabin until she figures things out. Olivia’s only real connection is with her mom, who isn’t able to immediately help. One night turns into a day, then another, and another, until they start to develop something like a relationship.

It’s pretty clear early on that Thomas is not the purehearted white knight he purports to be. Olivia continually overhears him talking into an earpiece, seemingly about her. It seems Thomas is plotting ways to keep Olivia around and increasingly dependent on him.

What is his motivation? Does Thomas harbor twisted romantic feelings toward Olivia? He’s rather vague about himself, other than he’s a software developer who experienced horrible abuse himself at the hands of his father, which is why he’s motivated to help her.

Nate Strayer directed “Outlier” with a screenplay he cowrote with Jona Doug. It’s his first feature film after directing a number of shorts, and there’s definitely a sense of someone with an idea of narrative structure at work. We are gradually lulled into an increasing feeling of things being amiss, and that Olivia has simply traded one abuser for another — it’s just that Thomas is much more calculating and subtle about how he sets out to control Olivia.

Even at just 80 minutes long, the film feels deliberately paced and could easily be 15-20 minutes shorter. I suspect the filmmakers set out to make a feature film but just didn’t come up with enough story material to justify one, so there are some scenes that come across as padding, repetitive and plodding.

Denton and Cheslek are both novices making their film acting debut, and while they acquit themselves well enough for rookies there’s no confusing their status as such. “Outlier” is exactly the sort of movie fledgling performers and filmmakers make to get some practice and seasoning so they can move on to better things.