Hellion (film)
| Hellion | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Kat Candler |
| Produced by | Jonathan Duffy Andrew Logan Kelly Williams |
| Written by | Kat Candler |
| Starring |
Aaron Paul Juliette Lewis Josh Wiggins Deke Garner Jonny Mars Annalee Jefferies |
| Cinematography | Brett Pawlak |
| Edited by | Alan Canant |
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Production
company |
Across Town Productions
IFC Films Arts+Labor Silver Sail Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Sundance Selects |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $55,708 |
Hellion (also known as Retribution) is a 2014 American drama film written and directed by Kat Candler. The film stars Aaron Paul as an emotionally absent father of two sons. It also stars Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins, Deke Garner, Jonny Mars and Annalee Jefferies.
The film premiered in-competition in the US Dramatic Category at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014.
Thirteen-year-old Jacob's increasing delinquent behavior forces Child Protective Services to place his little brother, Wes, with his aunt. Jacob and his emotionally absent father, Hollis, must finally take responsibility for their actions and for each other in order to bring Wes home.
Hellion received mixed to positive reviews upon its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, although newcomer Josh Wiggins's performance was especially praised. The film currently has a rating of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 48 reviews with an average score of 6.2 out of 10. The film also has a score of 55 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 24 critics indicating 'mixed or average reviews'.
Peter Debruge, in his review for Variety, compared the film with Terrence Malick's 2011 film The Tree of Life and said that "“Hellion” offers a more conventional plot, but that is also its chief limitation, somehow reducing the complexity of its verite character study to relatively straightforward psychology" and praised Wiggins performance by saying that "Newcomer Josh Wiggins steals the show in this verite-style story of an agitated 13-year-old delinquent."
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of Paul and Wiggins, in his review he said that "Aaron Paul's wrung-out performance as a widowed blue-collar father who has given up on life, all but abandoning his sons to fend for themselves. And the work of young newcomer Josh Wiggins will turn heads as the most volatile of those two kids, spinning out of control. The actors' raw honesty and the unvarnished authenticity of the Southeast Texas environment lend weight to this slow-burn drama about responsibility, even if its storytelling is unrelentingly downbeat and lacks muscularity."
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