''The Scent of Rain and Lightning'' is a 2017 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by

Blake Robbins Blake Robbins (born June 17, 1965) is an American actor and director of film and television. He appeared in the films '' Wind River'', '' The Ugly Truth'', ''Jayhawkers'', and '' To Leslie''. Robbins is also known for his guest-starring appearances ...

and written by Jeff Robison and Casey Twenter, based on the novel of the same name by

Nancy Pickard Nancy Pickard (born September 19, 1945 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American crime novelist. She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. She also se ...

. The film stars an ensemble cast that includes

Maika Monroe Maika Monroe (born Dillon Monroe Buckley; May 29, 1993) is an American actress and professional Kitesurfing, kiteboarder. She had her breakthrough headlining the horror film ''It Follows'' (2014), which won her several accolades—including an Em ...

Maggie Grace Margaret Grace Denig (born ) is an American actress and model. She is known for playing Shannon Rutherford on the ABC television series ''Lost'' (2004–2006; 2010), Kim Mills in the '' Taken'' trilogy (2008–2014), Irina in ''The Twilight Sag ...

Justin Chatwin Justin Chatwin (born October 31, 1982) is a Canadian actor. He began his career in 2001 with a brief appearance in the musical comedy ''Josie and the Pussycats''. Following his breakthrough role as Robbie Ferrier in the blockbuster ''War of the ...

, Mark Webber,

Logan Miller Logan Miller (born ) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the Disney XD sitcom ''I'm in the Band'' and he has also voiced Nova / Sam Alexander in the animated series ''Ultimate Spider-Man''. In films, he has starred in ''A Dog's Pu ...

Will Patton William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series ''Falling Skies''. He also appeared in the films ''Remember the Titans'', ''Armageddon'', ...

, and

Brad Carter David Bradley Carter (born December 5, 1973) is an American film and television actor, guitarist, painter, sculptor, and photographer, known for playing Charlie Lange in ''True Detective'' and Leland Gruen in '' Sons of Anarchy''. After suffer ...

. The film had its world premiere at the

Atlanta Film Festival The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is a long-running, international film festival held in Atlanta, Georgia operated by the Atlanta Film Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Started in 1976 and occurring every spring, the festival shows a ...

on March 25, 2017, and had a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on February 16, 2018. It received positive reviews from critics.

Plot

When a young woman learns her parents' killer has been released from jail, she is forced to revisit old wounds while discovering the destructive power of hate and the true cost of family secrets fully revealing themselves.

Cast

as Jody Linder * Meg Crosbie as Young Jody Linder *

as Laurie *

as Hugh Jay Linder * Mark Webber as Chase *

as Collin Croyle *

as Senior *

as Billy *

Aaron Poole Aaron Poole (born March 17, 1977) is a Canadian actor. Early life Poole grew up in Barrie, Ontario and attended Barrie Central Collegiate. He is a graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts and George Brown College. He is of Italian descent. ...

as Meryl *

Bonnie Bedelia Bonnie Bedelia Culkin (born ) is an American actress. After beginning her career in theatre in the 1960s, Bedelia starred in the CBS daytime soap opera ''Love of Life'' and made her film debut in ''The Gypsy Moths''. Bedelia subsequently appeare ...

as Annabelle *

as Sheriff Don Phelps * Ken Wood as Deputy Sheriff Mason Walker

Production

On July 23, 2015, it was announced that

's novel ''The Scent of Rain and Lightning'' was being adapted into a film, which Blake Robbins would direct,

and

leading the cast. Casey Twenter, Jeff Robison, and Jeff Johnson would produce the film through No Coast Entertainment, along with Kevin Waller through Gerson Productions and Michael Davis and Grace. On November 5, 2015, it was announced

, Mark Webber,

and

had joined the cast.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

on the film began on October 27, 2015, in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, and concluded on November 21, 2015, with a total of 21 days of shooting.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on March 25, 2017. Shortly after, SP Releasing acquired distribution rights to the film and set it for a February 16, 2018, release.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 100%, based on 8 reviews, and an average rating of 7.6/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally positive reviews".

References

External links

* 2017 films American drama films 2017 drama films Films based on American novels Films shot in Oklahoma 2010s English-language films 2010s American films {{2010s-drama-film-stub