In Justin Hunt’s thriller, The Post, the Sanders family is your typical Texas family, with the exception that Jett (Angus Benfield) and Brook’s (Kimberly Bigsby) son Jake (Zachariah West) is not a football player. This fact is important as one afternoon, Jake doesn’t come home. Jett just assumes he’s goofing off with friends until the police arrive to deliver the news that Jake is dead…beaten to death.
In the deepest point of their grief, daughter Penny (Abbey Hunt) is sent a video of Jake being beaten by a gang of boys. After seeing the video, Jett is incensed and goes to the police with the video, where Chief Berry (J. Elliott) assures Jett justice will be served. Unfortunately, none of the faces in the video are legible enough to make any meaningful identification.
Obsessed with justice, Jett examines the video and discovers that one of the assailants was a member of Jake’s school’s football team. When Jett goes to Chief Berry, he’s told the police will investigate it. Of course, they don’t, and strangely, the boy winds up dead the next morning. As Jett is able to identify more of the boys in the video, they soon wind up dead as well. All suspicious points to Jett as the killer, but did he do it?
“…assumes he’s goofing off with friends until the police arrive to deliver the news that Jake is dead…”
I’ll just say I liked the story behind The Post more than anything else in the film. I had to find out who did it in the end. The production values and quality of The Post align with the made-for-television quality of acting, cameras, and sets. Everything associated with this film could be better, provided the filmmakers had a lot more money. The only other criticism I have is that the pacing is a bit slow, as nothing is rushed in the story’s progress and scenery…almost like a soap opera.
On the bright side, I liked the story. The killer’s revelation is perfectly laid out, with suspicions regarding Jett always in question. No one would blame the father for wanting justice and going to extreme lengths to find it. The film hits on many genres, but I never felt it was all over the place. First, it’s a mild horror film. I also like that the murders get more and more brutal with each kill. There’s a political bent surrounding Texas High School football and whether or not the school should come to the truth when Jett is the perfect suspect. Now add an investigative journalist angle, as reporter Denise Daughtry (Sarah Minnich) is hot on the case, seeking to indict Jett in the court of public opinion.
There’s even a family drama when Jett and Denise’s marriage begins to fall apart. We see how Jett’s obsession makes him a recluse, and even Denise can’t be around to stand by her killer husband. Being at the crime scene with a gun does exactly scream innocent to anyone.
I had a lot of fun with The Post. Filmmaker Justin Hunt made the most of the resources available to him. The film is not perfect, but it’s a solid thriller for a Friday night popcorn and chill. It’s not precisely family-friendly but an excellent introduction to noir thrillers for a budding cinephile.
For more information about The Post, visit the Lama Entertainment website.
