There's a lot of good stuff going on in "The Riot Act," which is sort of a Western horror/whodunit revenge drama set inside a theatrical troupe. It's an uneven picture with narrative threads that aren't always woven tightly together or assembled in a pattern that makes sense. But it's an enjoyably grim, Gothic flick.
If it's possible to make a mashup of "Deadwood," "Sleepy Hollow" and "Shakespeare in Love," then here it is.
Writer/director Devon Parks was instrumental in getting the film shot in his hometown of Van Buren, Ark, while Fayetteville native Lauren Sweetster ("Winter's Bone") stars and also serves as a producer.
It's a terrific-looking picture, with inky-dark, moody cinematography by Travis Joiner, and stuffed with authentic period details and costumes. Set in a somewhere-out-West outpost around the turn of the century, it feels like we've stepped into the world of "Red Dead Redemption," where there are secrets to be kept and debts that are owed.
Sweetster plays Allye Pearrow, daughter of prominent town physician Willard Pearrow (Brett Cullen). The not-so-good doctor is the city's richest citizen and most prominent snob, dividing the townsfolk into the wretched workers and the wealthier uppity-ups who look down their nose at the rest. He owns the centerpiece of the local society, an opulent opera house.
As the story opens, Allye is preparing to run away with the star of the current traveling opera show, but daddy intervenes, shots are fired and bad things transpire. Parks reportedly based the story on a real local legend.
Cut to two years later. The theater has been silent and Dr. Pearrow has managed to convince everybody that his daughter was murdered, despite the lack of a body. The theater is opening a new show for the first time since the tragedy, a "variety" act from back East that appears to be one step above a bunch of carnival freaks. The town's titillation factor is at high crest.
Micah Hauptman is memorable as their ringleader, Cyrus Grimes, who alternates between blusterer and bumpkin.
Travis Joe Dixon plays Jack, the doctor's servile stage manager, while Connor Price is August, a young foreman who knows the ins and outs of the theater, having helped build it with his grandfather. Brandon Keener has a nice turn as one of the doctor's snotty hangers-on.
It seems Dr. Pearrow is being haunted by a specter of his sordid past, which takes the form of a figure with a top hat and mask made out of an old sack. The scooped-out eyes and general appearance is quite creepy. He's self-medicating with the substances available at the time. Meanwhile, Allye returns to town disguised as a member of the theater troupe, wearing a cat mask whenever she is in public.
Things go from there, building toward a confrontation between daughter and doctor.
Parks has a good feel for mood and moments, though he doesn't always set up the story elements in the best way or allow them to play out organically. For example, he reveals the figure behind the mask way too early for it to be effective. And in general the film continually sidelines Allye, where the focus should really be, in favor of less interesting characters with Y chromosomes.
Still, I'd be hard-pressed to deny the dark charms of "The Riot Act." With so many films coming out today that seem like carbon copies of each other, here's a quirky little movie that has a substantive, if erratic, sense of originality.