The Evening Hour (2021 | USA | 114 mins | Braden King)
Set with the gorgeous backdrop of Appalachia all around them, The Evening Hour is an indictment on how little opportunity and a lot of desperation can push a man to thing he never would have considered otherwise. Cole (Philip Ettinger, First Reformed) was born and raised in a small town destroyed by corporate greed and coal mining and living day to day the best he can. An orderly at the local senior home, he also makes ends meet by selling opiates around town. We’re immediately drawn to him for his good deeds around town: bringing groceries to elderly locals, giving cash to his grandmother, but he’s still part of a system that creates and keeps folks addicted.
Brought up by his grandparents after his mom abandoned him, he is devastated by the loss of his grandfather: the patriarch of the family and a holy man. Soon after this loss, a not-so-welcome friend comes back into town threatening to throw his life into chaos while he’s already barely holding things together. Add to that the sudden reappearance of his mother and all bets are off. Cole has to decide whether he follows the dark path he’s on even deeper or tries to recover and find a way out that keeps himself and his loved ones alive.
Based on a Carter Sickels’ book of the same name, I was drawn to the lush scenery of King’s film darkened by a layer of coal dust and lack of any choices for the aging townspeople. I’ve been in that town, I grew up in that town, and while we weren’t being destroyed by coal mining, it often felt like there was no way out. In a hometown that sucks you in like quicksand, and has little to offer by way of help when you need it most, someone like Cole can seem like a godsend. He came off as a martyr through most of the film, and even a couple of his druggie buddies were likable, but he was still part of a dangerous world that not only put him in danger but his friends and family too. That almost made the story more compelling, but in the end it was painful (but powerful) to watch.
They did end up relying on some stereotypical tropes of hicks from the country, and the bad guys could have used a bit more depth to create the potentially complex story that was brewing. However, there was an absorbing narrative here that pulled me in and kept me captivated throughout.
The Evening Hour is available now on VOD