John Lake (Rossif Sutherland) is an American doctor serving at a clinic in Laos. After some issues with the job he takes a small vacation to relax and think things over. One night, after getting very drunk at a bar, he encounters a tourist raping a local woman and, in an ensuing altercation, murders the tourist. In doing so, he leaves plenty of evidence around and he is badly bruised from the encounter. When the police come to question him the next day, he runs. The US embassy will not protect him from prosecution and the man he killed was the son of an Australian diplomat. Now John’s only hope is to make his way out of the country and back to America without getting caught.
River is an extraordinary film made even more so by the fact that it is director Jamie Dagg’s first feature effort. Shooting an indie film for the first time is hard enough but to also do so in another country and have it turn out so well is truly mind boggling. I also give him credit for maturely handling the plot and not slipping into the ‘innocent American trying to escape an uncivilized foreign country’ cliché. John Lake is absolutely guilty of a crime and we’re basically watching a fugitive from justice, tensely curious if he’s going to escape scot-free. Also, his dash from Laos to Thailand provides a ton of beautiful footage of the Laotian countryside. The disc includes no extras beyond some previews for other films.
Viola and Nichola are a young couple who have just experienced a stillbirth. To cope, they decide to get away for a trip to the Italian countryside and stay in an old cottage. Viola goes to get some water from a well, becomes suddenly frightened of nothing, runs away, and passes out in the woods. A ranger brings her home which spurs a bizarre jealousy in her husband leading him to restrain her, violate her with a funnel, and then come after her with an axe.
Nope, this film is just nope, I do not recommend it. Terrible dialogue made worse by wooden performances. The plot is nonexistent, moving at a snail’s pace for three quarters of the film and then, for no logical reason, we just jump into unacceptable violence against a woman. The Perfect Husband tries to justify itself with a few twists and surprises, but it just ends up making the film even more reprehensible and misogynistic. The disc includes the director’s short film, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and trailers.
Adam Ruhl is a writer and life long Cinephile. He is the Executive
Cinema Editor of Pop Culture Beast’s Austin branch; covering festivals,
conventions, and new releases. When not filing reports, Adam can be
found stalking Alamo Drafthouse Programmers for leads on upcoming
DrafthouseFilms titles. Adam once blocked Harry Knowles entrance to a
theater until he was given extra tickets to a Roman Polanski movie.