''Frank and Penelope'' is a 2022 American romantic

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

written and directed by

Sean Patrick Flanery Sean Patrick Flanery (born October 11, 1965) is an American actor, author, and martial artist. He is known for playing Connor MacManus in ''The Boondock Saints'' (1999) and its sequel '' The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day'' (2009), Greg Sti ...

. The film stars

Caylee Cowan Catherine Caylee Cowan is an American actress and filmmaker. She is best known for her roles in ''Sunrise in Heaven'' (2019), ''Willy's Wonderland'' (2021), ''Spinning Gold'' (2022), and '' Frank and Penelope'' (2022). Early life Cowan was bor ...

, Billy Budinich,

Kevin Dillon Kevin Brady Dillon (born August 19, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO comedy series ''Entourage'', Bunny in the war film ''Platoon'', and John Densmore in the musical biopic ''The Doors ...

Donna D'Errico Donna Jeanette D'Errico (born March 30, 1968) is an American actress and model. She posed for ''Playboy'' as its Playmate of the Month for September 1995 and had a starring role (1996–1998) on the television series ''Baywatch''. She continue ...

Lin Shaye Linda Shaye (born October 12, 1943) is an American film, television, and theater actress. In a career spanning over forty years, she has appeared in more than a hundred feature films. She is perhaps best known for her starring role as Elise Rain ...

Johnathon Schaech Johnathon Schaech ( ; born September 10, 1969) is an American actor and screenwriter. He has been working as an actor since the early '90s. Early life Johnathon Schaech was born in Edgewood, Maryland, in 1969 to Joe, a Baltimore City law enfo ...

, and Sean Patrick Flanery. The film is a road movie that begins in the city of

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

traveling along a deserted stretch of dirt road miles from civilization. It then takes place in the ghost town of

Terlingua, Texas Terlingua ( ) is a mining district and census-designated place (CDP) in southwestern Brewster County, Texas, United States. It is located near the Rio Grande and the villages of Lajitas and Study Butte, Texas, as well as the Mexican state o ...

which devolves into chaos and violence after it is discovered that the proprietor of the motel and diner, Chisos, is a psychotic, cannibal along with his sadistic family. Frank and Penelope suddenly become immersed in a hellish nightmare, on a life and death journey, where escape is just a heart-pounding breath away. ''Frank & Penelope'' had its world premiere at the

Riviera International Film Festival The Riviera International Film Festival (RIFF) is an international film festival dedicated to filmmakers under 35 that takes place every year in Sestri Levante. Since the 2018 edition, there is a section entirely dedicated to documentaries RIFF ...

in Italy on May 14, 2022. It’s also been screened as part of the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

market where Fabrication Films acquired film rights. ''Frank & Penelope'' was theatrically released in the United States on June 3, 2022.

Plot

The film opens on Frank, a down on luck man played by Billy Budinich, who has his heart broken after he catches his wife cheating on him. he has always followed the rules and now he is going to start living for himself and taking all the risks he never took before. This sends Frank him down a path to the run-down strip club, where he meets Penelope a dancer who works there. Penelope, played by

, works at the run-down strip club under the management of her boss, played by Sean Patrick Flannery. The two have been running a system with the intent to steal from clients, she sees Frank as an easy mark, before falling for him, as someone who could help her escape this world. Those events kick off Frank and Penelope’s ride-or-die journey across east Texas. Their offbeat road trip eventually leads them to a sadistic cult leader named Chisos (Johnathon Schaech).

Cast

Production

Written by John Thaddeus. Screenplay by

, ''Frank and Penelope'' was produced by

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

William Shockley William Bradford Shockley Jr. (February 13, 1910 – August 12, 1989) was an American physicist and inventor. He was the manager of a research group at Bell Labs that included John Bardeen and Walter Brattain. The three scientists were jointly ...

, Allen Gilmer, Scott Dolezal, and Sean Patrick Flanery.

Filming

Filming began on July 12, 2021, in

with locations including an abandoned mercury mine and was completed on August 11, 2021.

Release

Theatrical

The film had its world premiere at the

in Italy on May 14, 2022. It was released in the United States on June 3, 2022 by Redbud Studios and Fabrication Films.

Home media

''Frank and Penelope'' was released digitally and on Blu-ray and DVD on July 3, 2022.

Reception

Box office

Critical response

Chris Vognar of the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' criticized the film, arguing that the film has a "ugliness of spirit" that gets more severe as it continues, stating that the writing "lacks momentum", and stating that the work of the actors "barely scrapes by". "

and Billy Budinich as great in the leading roles, with

showing such a calming hopeless romantic tone through every scene she is in. Johnathon Schaech brings the creepy side to his character, which only felt like the surface to someone a lot more sinister." - Darren Lucas of MovieReviews101

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, frank_and_penelope 2020s American films 2020s road movies 2022 crime films 2022 films 2022 romance films American crime films American road movies American romance films Fictional couples Romantic crime films