Title: The Wolves of Savin Hill

Starring: David Cooley, Brian Scannell, Kurt Fuller, Jack McGee, Michael Massee, Paul Carafotes, Tim DeZarn, Tonya Cornelisse, Megan Davis, Suzanne Willard, Jordan Van Vranken, Marco Verdier, Jason Oliver, Tiprin Mandalay, Nicole Haddad, Rick Dano, Jack Millard, John Beaton Hill

You wouldn’t know that “The Wolves of Savin Hill” started out as a screen reel project, but this indie drama surpasses its original intent and becomes a full-fledged film about the psychology of doubt and how guilt and secrets revolving around one incident can dissolve friendships and lives.

The film focuses on Tom and Sean (David Cooley, Brian Scannell, respectively) who, as boys, find the body of a battered girl. Immediately, the question is if one of the boys committed the crime, but as the case goes unsolved and neither of the boys have confessed to the crime, the body becomes a distant memory. However, it’s a memory that still haunts both of them. The way they deal with their guilt expresses itself in vastly different ways. Sean becomes a respected (but dirty) cop who acts out his aggression on his current wife, Emily (Tiprin Mandalay). Tom, meanwhile, has become a drunk whose out of work and can’t seem to get his life together. Emily becomes Sean’s latest victim and after her funeral, Tom attends the funeral, which puts him in a plot with Sean and his dirty cop buddies. After taking the fall for their crimes, Tom comes out of prison ready for revenge.

The story is strong and the acting does succeed in telling the story of a man who struggles with his past and his level of culpability in a past tragedy. Both Cooley and Scannell do fantastic jobs of getting into the heads of two men who grew up to be completely different people that still hold on to a tie of friendship that’s now past its prime. But there are times when the acting showcased in the film becomes a little too over-the-top. A key example is a scene when the some of the dirty cops are freaking out over their botched robbery. A little yelling would get the point of panic across. However, there’s a little more yelling than necessary.

Perhaps some of the over-the-top acting could have been edited from the film, since it’s a fine line as to where the acting choices end and the editing begins. The film does a good job of conveying the feeling of introspection and discovery. But some introspective scenes could have been cut by just a few minutes to make the film seem tighter and a bit more cohesive instead of completely cerebral. With so many long sequences of silence and characters staring out into the dark night, it becomes tough for the audience to stay in the characters’ heads.

However, critiques aside, “The Wolves of Savin Hill” does a great job at bringing viewers into this world of mystery and guilt. The viewer wants to see Tom get his comeuppance as well as figure out who actually killed that young girl. The film does make the viewer aware that humanity is a condition that can hold great good as well as great evil.

Technical: B+

Written by: Monique Jones