UNION BRIDGE REVIEW

After burning out in the city, Will Shipe is summoned back home where he uncovers dark truths about his family and the town he grew up in.

Starring: Scott Friend, Emma Duncan, and Alex Breaux

Directed and written by: Brian Levin

  “Union Bridge” opens in a past time for this town showing the events of a man being sought out by a group of men. They want to know something from this man, but he’s very unwilling to talk. It opens a mystery the audience will have to wait to see uncovered. One that some people in this town don’t want revealed. 

  The story then follows Will Shipe (Scott Friend) who has returned home after many years away. He seems to have needed a break from the big city. Not long after returning home he learns his friend Nick (Alex Breaux) has fallen on some hard times, and is now acting strangely. Some people are concerned for him, and others are concerned with what he’s after. It becomes kind of hard for Will to help his friend when he has some of his own struggles to deal with.

 This results in a very slow burn of a film. Obviously the audience wants to know what was going on at the start of the film, but that will have to wait. Instead the audience will get sucked into Will’s problems until he can overcome them. Being home shows that he’s still not sure of where he belongs in the world. Mixed in with his struggles are flashbacks, or dreams going back to the Civil War. They are a little confusing, but seem to play a part in what his family, and others in the town are hiding.

  To help with his struggles, he befriends Mary (Emma Duncan), and maybe even falls for her. It’s here that an almost supernatural element in thrown into the mix. She seems to have turned to religion to help herself, but others think she may be up to no good. Either way, Will gets closer to her, and leans on her while figuring things out. Eventually he will have to chose between keeping his family secrets, turning his back on a friend, and potentially giving up his new bond with Mary vs discovering the dark secret of the town, proving his friend right, and staying with Mary.

  “Union Bridge” turns out to be a movie that covers several genres. It’s drama, mystery, thriller, supernatural, romance, and most of all a slow burner. It presents a mystery, and is in no hurry to solve it. Instead it gets the audience comfortable in a small town setting with issues that go all the way back to the Civil War. The audience has to hang by Will’s side in order for him to deal with his own issues before finding out the truth behind the town. It might not be the biggest pay off, but somehow fits with how the story is presented. With that said, I give it 2 pools of blood.

  HorrO