Red White & Blue

Restraint pays dividends for British writer/director Simon Rumley in this devastating and demanding revenge tragedy set in Austin, Texas. A low-budget tale of broken lives and misguided retribution, Rumley's slow-burner is driven by superbly nuanced performances, with Amanda Fuller's emotionally scarred nymphomaniac gradually forming a relationship with a mysterious Iraq War veteran (an unforgettable Noah Taylor). It's an association that hints at twisted salvation, but ends in gut-wrenching horror, after one of her former conquests - a hot-headed mamma's boy (Marc Senter) - dramatically resurfaces. For the first hour, twitchy montage-heavy visuals combine with economically used sound and dialogue to establish the ill-fated trio, while fostering a mood of unsettling anticipation. When the brutality finally explodes, Rumley continues to focus on reactions rather than action, the harrowing events hitting harder by being kept predominantly off-screen. Nonetheless, the shift from dark character study to more traditional exploitation territory might alienate some and limit the thriller's appeal.