PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The crime drama Respite (2021) wants to make a point about how past sins can prompt revenge. And it does so in some ways… it just gets a little too predictable and imitative. Gravitas Ventures recently snagged North American rights to Saro Varjabedian’s (Me To Play 2021) gritty feature film.
Private detective Jimmy Baz (Monte Bezell: The Last Rumba) reluctantly takes on a case to find a missing college boy. He’s got his reasons: His own son vanished years ago, and he’s been a mess ever since.
We get the usual skeezy characters and seedy locales. Where Respite excels is the light it shines on the child sex trafficking that occurred during the Afghan War. Many pedophile allies were given U.S. visas in exchange for their war efforts. U.S. officials mostly looked the other way. The issue is handled in a mostly heartfelt manner, although one late film torture scene takes the movie a little close to the cliff’s edge.
There’s serviceable dialogue: “I can tell that look. The look on a person when they come from a place of Hell. And the war in Afghanistan made the whole country a place of Hell.”
And there’s iffy dialogue: “Are you sure about this?”
“No, but it’s as good as any crack house you’re gonna get.”
Still, it’s refreshing to see a crime drama at this budget-level; I’d love to see more. And if Respite can keep us from turning a blind eye again, all the better.
Respite dropped Jan. 26 to rent and own on North American digital HD internet, cable, and satellite platforms.
