The Poisoning

2014 • 84 minutes

About this movie

Matt, with the assistance of his new friend Riley, is moving out to Los Angeles California to fulfill his dream of making movies. Everything is off to a good star -- until Matt's childhood best friend Chaps decides to crash the road trip and invite himself along. When old friends don't mix well with new friends, jealousy enters the picture. And if that wasn't enough to put a damper on the road trip, a menacing hitchhiker turns their world upside down leading to a maddening chase that spins wildly out of control.

Ratings and reviews

A road trip begins. Matt and Riley set off for LA where they plan to start their careers. Chaps, a creepy friend, houses them for the night and poses uncomfortable questions. Unfortunately, he decides to join our two lead characters in their trip to LA. Things head down a darker path when a strange hitchhiker shows up, and the road trip becomes entrenched in the unexpected. The performances and dialogue were very natural, and the camera and lighting work fit this style perfectly. The camera work reminded me of much of the work from the Dogme 95 period of Danish film filmmaking. This film is a twist on the road-trip buddy film in every way possible, and just becomes weirder and darker and better as it moves on. If you are into genre-bending films, it’s recommended to check this one out. It will shock you.

I lost count of the genres blended into this adventurous and rather disturbing Indie. Actually shot across the country in a lo-fi approach (that for once I didn't mind) the film begins as two pals, Matt and Riley (Matt Mercer, Kalan Ray), set out from New England to LA to fulfill their dream of becoming filmmakers. The trip starts with a modicum of tension, first with the wife of one (Matt's), then heightens over an encounter with two particularly aggressive anti-smokers (one portrayed by director Eglinton). Things get worse when wanna-be rock star "Chaps" tags along (co-writer Walz), and then get REALLY weird when they encounter the murderous Hitchhiker (Patrick Thomas Gorman). If this seems like the road trip from hell, it is. But for this viewer, it was a helluva lot of fun.

So much of this film should have been edited. The last 15 or 20 minutes of the film was somewhat exciting. The first hour and 5 minutes of a one hour and twenty-four minutes were a waste of time..