''What Remains'' is a 2022 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

drama film starring

Cress Williams Cress Williams (born July 26, 1970) is an American actor, known for his roles in ''Prison Break'' and '' Close to Home''. His most recent roles include Mayor Lavon Hayes on The CW series ''Hart of Dixie'' and the title character on The CW's ''Bla ...

Kellan Lutz Kellan Christopher Lutz (born March 15, 1985) is an American actor and model. He made his film debut in ''Stick It'' (2006), and is best known for playing Emmett Cullen in ''The Twilight Saga'' film series (2008–2012). He has since played Pos ...

, and

Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche ( ; May 25, 1969August 11, 2022) was an American actress, known for her roles in a variety of genres in film, television, and theater, receiving numerous accolades, including a National Board of Review Award and multiple Emmy ...

. The movie revolves around a small-town murder connected to a local pastor and an ex-con. ''What Remains'' is one of the final feature films for Heche, who wrapped her scenes in late October 2021 before her death in August 2022.

Synopsis

A small-town pastor is forced to reckon with an act of forgiveness when the convict he forgave for murdering his wife returns to town five years later, while the town sheriff investigates another murder that may be related.

Cast

as Marshall Shepard *

as Troy Parker Jr. *

as Maureen Silverton * Marcus Gladney Jr. as Samuel Shepard *

Stelio Savante Stelio Savante is a South African American actor, filmmaker and producer best known for his roles as a South African journalist and undercover Mossad agent opposite Jim Caviezel and Claudia Karvan in the political thriller ''Infidel'', a Portu ...

as Scott * Juliana Destefano as Kaitlyn * Maria Gajdosik as Dylan * Korey Scott Pollard as Willis * Lindsay Walker as Elizabeth

Production

Filming took place in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, over five weeks. Twenty-one students from

John Paul the Great Catholic University John Paul the Great Catholic University (JPCatholic) is a private Roman Catholic university in Escondido, California. It offers Bachelor of Science degrees and a Bachelor of Arts degree. History John Paul the Great Catholic University was foun ...

served in various roles on set, representing over a quarter of the film's crew.

Release

The movie premiered at the 2022

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers’ creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the ...

, alongside notable films like

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction. Aronof ...

’s

The Whale (2022 film) ''The Whale'' is a 2022 American drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky. It is based on a screenplay by Samuel D. Hunter, adapting his 2012 play of the same name. The film stars Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins and Samantha ...

and Sam and Kate. The film had a simultaneous VOD release and limited theatrical run and was released on December 2nd, 2022.

Reception

Rod Machen, a film critic for the ''

Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'', wrote: "''What Remains'' is an example of what can happen when filmmakers tackle tough issues head on. Using non-linear storytelling, ''What Remains'' eschews the easy answers of simple movies and takes the audience on a painful ride with a man who tries to do the right thing but can never be sure that he’s pulling it off. Real life is always more complicated than we wish it was.”

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 11245850 2022 independent films 2022 drama films 2022 films 2020s English-language films