The Last Straw begins with Andrea and Ervin Litkei’s achy “You Lied to My Heart” tempting our audial sense. Quick shots of a blood stain on a counter, a bloody arm, and an old yellow phone receiver off the hook follow. What happened? We know it’s not good. A 911 call tells us: “There’s blood everywhere…” before trailing off. That’s enough of a hook to make us care, then, that we’re being taken back 24 hours to see how we arrived at this mess in filmmaker Alan Scott Neal’s impressive debut. Headlined by Jessica Belkin (American Horror Story: Hotel), the inventive thriller tracks Nancy (Belkin), a young waitress whose overnight shift working alone at a rural, roadside diner, quickly turns into the night from hell.
The trouble begins when a group of masked assailants decide to terrorize the joint. Flying solo, Nancy must resort to extreme measures to survive the night. Meaning, she’s not going to play the victim. Edgy, at times surprising, and altogether engrossing, the movie tricks your perceptions of how a story can be told just enough and spins the gal-on-her-own horror thriller trope nicely, culling from the likes of ’70s/’80s icons such as John Carpenter and William Friedkin, whose films (like Halloween and The Exorcist, respectively) became the definitive horror template.
Last Straw Quickly Sets Up a Compelling Premise
Joining Belkin are Taylor Kowalski (Snowfall) and Jeremy Sisto (Thirteen, Clueless) who further enhance Taylor Sardoni’s robust script. Ultimately, as we’ve been teased, everything will come to a tension-filled breaking point here. First, we must get to know Nancy. She’s relieving herself in a field off the roadway when we meet her, and that, too, comes with its own surprise. She’s really taking a pregnancy test.
The film will recall a bevy of scenes we’ve seen all too many times before, mainly, “girl on the edge has a day that gets progressively worse.” Nancy’s discovery of an unwanted pregnancy coupled with a car breakdown ultimately sends her disheveled into the family diner she works in as a waitress. Her father (Sisto), miffed about the car and eagerly awaiting a date night, informs Nancy she’ll be working the late shift. She begrudgingly agrees, but things immediately head south.
When a posse of masked teenaged troublemakers arrive, Nancy manages to bark them out of the place. Frustration rising, she’ll go on to tell off a nerdy coworker, and then fire her alpha male cook and, it appears, her entire staff. That leaves her hanging solo at the diner. Cue: jukebox dance scene because, well, we must have some release before the blood starts spilling. Funny how the 2018 indie rock song “I’m Yer Dad” by queer scream-pop band GRLwood is tucked away in a small-town diner’s jukebox options, but for the point of letting off steam, best to go with it.
Terror Begins Early On
Inevitably, like Scream and Halloween before it, the masked rabble-rousers return, and we assume they’re the same kids from before, but the screenwriter manages to establish enough mystery, intrigue, and growing tension to make you wonder if that’s really true. All of this is done fairly soon, rather than letting the audience wait 45 minutes.
When the diner’s lights go out, Nancy grabs a knife and hides under the counter as her masked intruders pop up in frightful spurts outside the windows. One cop visit later, and she learns of a horrific murder. Less than a minute later, the terror begins. This is where the film’s script detours from traditional linear storytelling, which is one of its best surprises. In doing so, screenwriter Taylor Sardoni offers more context into some of the characters to which we’ve been introduced.
That said, it nearly goes overboard with melodrama as it attempts to capture the disparity of class, privilege, and the need for acceptance. For their part, the actors hit their marks just fine. Jessica Belkin proves herself as an engaging headliner, offering Nancy a believable grit and desperation. The character is fully realized, and the actress lends more depth to the role than one might initially anticipate.
A Taught and Engaging Thriller
Overall, Alan Scott Neal (a brilliant casting director) peppers Last Straw from years of his own Virginia-reared experiences and research, mostly first-hand accounts and case studies culled from his early years. He noticed how small-town familial units often bumped up against fractured and distressed individuals living on the fringe of society. He’d go on to study criminal justice, eventually developing a more nuanced artistic understanding of how certain cultural clashes become embedded in American society.
Last Straw isn’t as academic as that sounds. Taylor Sardoni’s script manages to infuse moments of needed levity with more harrowing scenes. It presents a unique and balanced exploration on both sides of horrific crimes. The film can lean into Nancy’s own frustrations about what’s traditionally expected of her yet also capture the dark reality of her assailants. In that respect, Last Strawhopes to pivot some of the audience’s pre-conceived perceptions of good guy/bad guy polarities. It mostly gets away with it, yet slightly favors our protagonist’s view more than the others. That’s why we’re here, after all.
If you appreciate a thriller that’s taut and grabs you quickly, then doesn’t let go, Last Straw is worthy of your time. Horror fans jonesing for graphic scenes take note: the film isn’t overly graphic. It reveals just enough and, thanks to the tension it’s already established, the true frights can emerge from the audiences’ own imaginations. Last Straw will arrive in select theaters, Digital and on-demand on September 20 from Shout! Studios.
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