''Battlecreek'' is a 2017 American
romantic drama
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...
film starring
Bill Skarsgård
Bill Istvan Günther Skarsgård (; born 9 August 1990) is a Swedish actor, producer, director, writer, voice actor, and model. He is best known for portraying Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the supernatural horror films '' It'' (2017) and ''It C ...
,
Paula Malcomson
Paula Malcomson (born 1 June 1970) is a Northern Irish actress. She is sometimes credited as Paula Williams. She is known as Trixie in ''Deadwood'' (2004-2006), Maureen Ashby in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2010), and as Abby Donovan in ''Ray Donovan'' ...
and
Claire van der Boom
Clair or Claire may refer to:
*Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire
* Clair (surname)
Places
Canada
* Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska
* Clair Parish, New Brunswick
* Pointe-Claire, Qu ...
, and directed by
Alison Eastwood
Alison Eastwood (born May 22, 1972) is an American actress. After three uncredited roles between 1980 and 1997, she appeared as Mandy, the love interest of John Cusack in ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' (1997).
Early life
Eastwood w ...
. It is about a young man with a rare skin disease that forces him to avoid sunlight. He meets a young woman after her car breaks down, which leads him to change his life.
Plot
Henry Pearl (
Bill Skarsgård
Bill Istvan Günther Skarsgård (; born 9 August 1990) is a Swedish actor, producer, director, writer, voice actor, and model. He is best known for portraying Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the supernatural horror films '' It'' (2017) and ''It C ...
) is a young man who suffers from a
rare skin disease that results in severe burns from sun exposure. He has scarring on his body from a childhood accident that occurred when he wandered outside, unsupervised. His father was supposedly drunk in the house at the time, and abandoned the family not long after.
As a result of his condition, Henry is awake mostly at night and lives at home with his over-protective mother, Tallulah (
Paula Malcomson
Paula Malcomson (born 1 June 1970) is a Northern Irish actress. She is sometimes credited as Paula Williams. She is known as Trixie in ''Deadwood'' (2004-2006), Maureen Ashby in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2010), and as Abby Donovan in ''Ray Donovan'' ...
), in the
southern town of Battlecreek. He spends his time frequenting a local diner, staffed by kind waitress Melinda (Dana Powell), working the night shift at a gas station with family friend Arthur (
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo (born 18 November 1952) is an English-American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a NAACP Image Award, a Satellite Award, and nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Tony Award, two Critics' Cho ...
), and painting murals on the walls of his room.
A mysterious woman named Alison (
Claire van der Boom
Clair or Claire may refer to:
*Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire
* Clair (surname)
Places
Canada
* Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska
* Clair Parish, New Brunswick
* Pointe-Claire, Qu ...
) is stranded when her car breaks down. Henry meets her when she's hired as a waitress to pay for the repairs. A romance soon develops, much to his mother's chagrin. Despite their differences, they effect positive changes in one another; Henry grows more confident, while Alison begins to emotionally open up.
When Cy (
Toby Hemingway
Toby Michael C. A. Hemingway''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 28 May 1983) is an English actor. He is known for playing Reid Garwin in the 2006 supernatural thriller '' The Covenant'', an ...
), Allison's abusive, drug dealing ex-boyfriend, tracks her down, her first instinct is to run and leave Henry behind. He then learns from Arthur that his father left the family before his accident. He presses Tallulah for more information and she confesses that she was the one who was drunk and failed to keep him indoors on that fateful day. Heart-broken and feeling betrayed, Henry moves out of the house.
Alison, meanwhile, is kidnapped by Cy. He threatens to torture her, but she manages to break free of her restraints and kill him. She wraps up his corpse and sinks it into a nearby
bayou
In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...
.
Allison and Henry reunite. He tells her that he doesn't want to hide from life anymore. They leave Battlecreek together in her repaired car.
Cast
*
Bill Skarsgård
Bill Istvan Günther Skarsgård (; born 9 August 1990) is a Swedish actor, producer, director, writer, voice actor, and model. He is best known for portraying Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the supernatural horror films '' It'' (2017) and ''It C ...
as Henry
*
Paula Malcomson
Paula Malcomson (born 1 June 1970) is a Northern Irish actress. She is sometimes credited as Paula Williams. She is known as Trixie in ''Deadwood'' (2004-2006), Maureen Ashby in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2010), and as Abby Donovan in ''Ray Donovan'' ...
as Tallulah
*
Claire van der Boom
Clair or Claire may refer to:
*Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire
* Clair (surname)
Places
Canada
* Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska
* Clair Parish, New Brunswick
* Pointe-Claire, Qu ...
as Alison
*
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo (born 18 November 1952) is an English-American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a NAACP Image Award, a Satellite Award, and nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Tony Award, two Critics' Cho ...
as Arthur
*
Toby Hemingway
Toby Michael C. A. Hemingway''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 28 May 1983) is an English actor. He is known for playing Reid Garwin in the 2006 supernatural thriller '' The Covenant'', an ...
as Cy
* Dana Powell as Melinda
Reception
The film has not been widely reviewed. Joe Leydon of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' was positively affected by the film, writing "One of the more impressive qualities of “Battlecreek,” a slow-burn drama set in a sultry Mississippi town, is the way it upends audience expectations by taking a surprise detour or two while covering familiar ground." According to Gary Goldstein of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', "Anthea Anka's earnest script manages to paint Henry as a kindly, poetic fellow, but with enough quiet self-possession to avoid sinking him in pathos. It's a tricky balancing act, beautifully matched by Skarsgård's depiction." Justin Lowe of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' was unimpressed, writing "Anka’s first produced script only fitfully resists the temptation to rely on cliches rather than creativity to tell Henry’s belated coming-of-age story. Eastwood seems disinclined to salvage the film from sentimental wallowing, either, indulging Anka’s conventionally conceived predilection for redeeming her physically and morally flawed characters, along with a set of predictable plot points that converge only with deliberate force."
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:BATTLECREEK
2017 films
2017 romantic drama films
American romantic drama films
Films set in the Southern United States
American independent films
2017 independent films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films
English-language romantic drama films