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In this movie, just about everyone is attempting to control some other person. There is overt control, there is manipulative control, there is suggestive control, there is, 'I am going to take over this relationship' kind of control.

If you enjoy this sort of movie, this is a quite decent implementation, especially given the person who seemed least controlling pulls off an action of which his character and personality suggested he was incapable.

Not my sort of dish, but it held my attention to the end, which means it wasn't half bad.

'The Living' is about unintended consequences arising from difficult decisions clouted by complicated personalities and troubled minds. It is a nice indie dark movie, with several highlights but some compromising flaws.

Acting is surprisingly good, with actors punching way above their weight. This his the highlight of the movie. The slow scenes with agonizing seconds of silences give them a dark and deep vibe, and the actors nail it, looking natural and very comfortable on screen.

The context of the story plot is very cliché, however, as it revolves about the struggles of a battered woman and her alcoholic husband who loves-her-even-though-he-hit-her.

Strangely, the lack of character development isn't that much detrimental on 'The Living' as it would be in many other movies, as the focus quickly shifts to the mental state and how the characters process the situation they got themselves involved with, instead of just re-telling a worn-out and over-used simple story line.

Finally, editing seems to be hurried up, as it is the case of so many otherwise promising indie productions, unfortunately. As I mentioned, many individual scenes are harrowing, deep and engaging, but the transitions don't work that well, which is frustrating.

I give 'The Living' a 6/10 score, realizing I'm averaging some very good marks with poor ones. Having so much quality disparity is what, in my opinion, makes the difference between some other reviews here that swing from critical 3s to glowing 9s and 10s.

In rural Pennsylvania, Teddy (Fran Kranz) is beating up on his wife Molly (Jocelin Donahue) again. Her weak-kneed brother Gordon (Kenny Wormald) won't do much of anything. Gordon is browbeaten by their mother Angela (Joelle Carter) for his weakness. His work friend suggests hiring Howard (Chris Mulkey), a killer from Mississippi. As Gordon and Howard drive back to Pennsylvania, Howard's violence causes Gordon to reconsider.

There are two ways to consider these characters. They can be seen as complicated and deeply flawed humanity. They can also be seen as wrongly written and pathetically unredeemable. Molly's attachment to Teddy can be very disturbing but it's also not unreasonable. Plenty of abused women defend their abusers. Gordon's pathetic character can be very annoying. At the end of the movie, I wish that this was made by the Coen brothers. They would have injected some comedy and pathos which would make this tragedy somehow humorous and more compelling. I don't know much about this filmmaker. He doesn't have it.

Watched it because of love indie films. I finished the movie, wondering "how did I end up wasting my time with this one?" I am not a movie reviewer but I just simply had to put my two bits in on this one! I hated it. Low budget, bad acting, poor directing, bad sound, bad picture. Yuck!

Make-up was horrible. How did this get on my list of movies to watch?

I sat through 90 minutes of wondering if a plot would thicken or a twist would come. Never. The movie didn't improve from the first minute. It just went on and on, into nothing...

I don't even know who the main characters were. Not one of the actors stood out as anyone to follow in the story. Not one of the actors showed any sign of acting ability. I will try and make sure to never watch anything with any of the actors that were in this film or even involved in the production. I just wish they could all be blacklisted for me. Spare us all, please.

What I do isn't about the people that die. It's about the people that are left alive. They get the short end of the stick, as far as I'm concerned.

"The Living" is a basic revenge film in which the reprisal turns out quite differently than initially intended. A social drama about domestic violence and alcoholism, although I started wondering after a while how critical this alcohol problem was. The evolution to this violent abuse wasn't discussed. How could it come to this? Were there already signs of an oncoming problem? And were there cases of domestic violence already in the past? You're kept in the dark when it comes to these relevant considerations.

The first image, accompanied by music from The de Luca Brothers, is that of some empty beer bottles scattered around on the ground and an unconscious Teddy (Fran Kranz), who apparently is sleeping it off. Upon awakening he finds out he has a bloody hand and his wedding ring is missing, after which he becomes aware something terrible happened the previous night. The fact that his young wife Molly (Jocelin Donahue) is no longer present in the house, confirms his suspicion. Molly has fled to her parents' home where her mother Angela (Joelle Carter) and brother Gordon (Kenny Wormald) still live. When Teddy arrives there and Molly returns with him despite everything that happened, Angela threatens to use her shotgun and shoot Teddy. Simultaneously she's also furious about Gordon defending his sister in a lax way. Mad about what happened to his sister, Gordon takes the advice of a workmate (who knows someone who also knows someone else who could teach a person a lesson), and he goes looking for this person to solve the problem once and for all.

Unfortunately this is, despite some brilliant performances, a fairly banal story with a predictable storyline and no surprising conclusion. The whole film actually just shows the emotional relationship between a few people. First, the fragile and broken relationship between Molly and Teddy. Molly makes it clear to Teddy that he has to do everything to make up for the incurred suffering. What bothered me in this part of the story, was twofold. Teddy doesn't really resemble a typical alcoholic who tends to use violence against his wife. He looks remarkably fresh after an evening of heavy drinking (with a solid blackout as a result) and seemingly he doesn't have problems with staying away from booze. And Molly didn't need much time to forgive him again. Teddy didn't have to pay enormously for his actions. But I'm convinced this is most common in this kind of situations.

The second relationship arising in this film is that between the timid, uncertain Gordon and Howard (Chris Mulkey), the psychopathic killer who isn't afraid of murdering someone for a few dollars. This subtle interplay between these two opposites was the most fascinating of the whole movie. Magisterial acted by both. The realization that slowly grows to Gordon that he may have took the wrong decision. Howard is someone who is straightforward and clearly takes matters in hand to finalize it. There's a key moment in a restaurant where I thought the film was going to escalate into a spiral of violence. But to my surprise it remained to that single moment and the impact was limited to the fact that Gordon was more uncertain and scared to dead of Howard. Mulkey is brilliant as the crazy killer. Top performance.

But as I mentioned earlier, these superb performances can't cover up that the essential substance of this film is kind of feeble. A succession of obvious events and a simple story with no undue risks taken. Domestic violence is usually a complex psychological story. In "The Living" this is elaborated rather simplistic. Even the injuries Molly had after the quarrel, didn't exactly look realistic (it was more a result of a makeup party that got out of hand). Thanks to the charismatic Mulkey, this film was worth to watch.

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Why sit through this whole thing when we as an audience don't give a crap about any of the characters? They are all equally worthless...The villain is a wonderful actor. The lighting and mood are fine, but when we go to the movies what we really want is emotion. To feel, to care. And I couldn't have cared less about the stupid brother or anyone else in The Living.

I guess it is a reflection of our culture that movies like this get financed, and made. How does this happen? There is zero subplot, zero nuance, and zero depth of character. It's like a silly ghost story that my 5 year old would tell, only she'd finish it quickly enough not to make me feel like my time had been stolen.

Save yourself for actual movies. Maybe other ones that Chris Mulkey is in...since he's really worth watching. Just not in this.

Amateur hour and a half.

I saw this film at the Tallgrass Film Festival, and it was excellent. Jack Bryan really knows how to write a compelling tale, and the film ends in a way that Hollywood could never deliver. There's a well-established sense of the world that the characters inhabit, and it never feels like a low-budget production. There are several long dialog takes that are thoroughly impressive performances. It's good to see Fran Kranz in a serious role, as he totally sells the character. Hopefully this acts as a showcase for more dramatic projects. I was unfamiliar with Jocelin Donahue, but will definitely keep an eye out for her in other films. Chris Mulkey is a beast, and absolutely kills it. The people involved in making this movie are clearly talented and passionate individuals, and I can't wait to see what they bring to the table next.

This movie is a superb combination of thriller and socially conscious film-making. I've never really seen a film that is as good. The acting is great all around. The characters are nuanced. The problem of domestic violence is subtly depicted. The courage of the filmmakers is obvious from the start. I highly recommend this film. My one reservation concerns the depiction of the killer as southern. But the portrayal of people wiling to forgive is truly amazing and impressive. So, I agree totally with this other review: I saw this movie at a screening in Boston MA sponsored by Emerson college. I was impressed with the content of the film and how Jack Bryan the writer/director incorporates his characters and intertwines their lives into the dark depths of alcoholism and domestic violence. His choice of cast members was right on and I particularly liked his portrayal of the killer played by Chris Mulkey. I was surprised by the ending but not disappointed. This is a must see movie. I hope to have the opportunity to experience more works from this group of talented writers, directors, and producers along with all members who made this film what it is.

Kenny Wormald as Gordon carries this movie from start to finish. He shines in his role as the confused, spirit broken, son of Angella, brother of Molly, and trapped future-less stock clerk at a local grocery store.

Gordon feels defeated by his mother constantly pecking at him and belittling him. Gordon wants to stand up to his abusive brother-in-law but lacks the will and the drive. His mother fails to realize she has destroyed her son. Molly (his sister) and wife to Teddy only stands up for herself when pushed into a corner as shown by how her husband Teddy beat her and then Molly fights back. But she cannot stay away from Teddy at her mother's house because she see's her mother as more abusive psychologically than Teddy's physical abuse.

Fran Kranz as the husband Teddy is very smooth and likable in this role as he charmingly worms his way back into Molly's trust only to have Molly reject him again and again. BUT pay attention to the kitchen scene near the end of the movie! His true character is coming out when he gets Molly to 'get' something for him. And she does! She is now back into his control.

Chris Mulkey as Howard is one spooky dude! A terrible creature and Gordon doesn't realize this until it's too late and he then knows he's in over his head. Howard has complete control of him. The finest scene is in the restaurant conversation between Howard and Gordon .... it is here that Gordon actually gets Howard to philosophically question himself and his life. But he too is in over his head with his past life and he cannot escape it, his ship is sinking and he might as well go down with it. On the other hand Gordon must find a way off this sinking ship.

This film is perfect from start to finish! Bravo's to writer/director Jack Bryan and the entire cast. A must see film!

I first met writer/director Jack Bryan at the Tallgrass Film Festival during a showing of Yojimbo. I ended up seeing his film "The Living" when it premiered that weekend. I was excited to see it, Jack seemed like a cool guy and I love Fran Kranz, but I had no idea I was in for such a treat. I'm not really sure if treat is the right word to use, this film is a lot of things, but it might be a little too dark to be considered a treat. The performances, writing, direction, and production design are all flawless. The story follows Teddy, an alcoholic that wakes up one morning after blacking out to discover that he had beat his wife. Fran Kranz plays as Teddy and gives the best performance of his career. Cast as the comedic relief in Cabin in the Woods and Dollhouse, it was refreshing to see him playing a serious role. Somehow, he's able to make a character that you're inclined to hate from the start lovable. While his brother in law is on a quest to hire a hit-man to kill him, Teddy is doing everything he can to make things up to his wife. Chris Mulkey plays as the hit-man and does an excellent job at being horrifying. Killing is something that comes casually to him. The rest of the cast put in excellent performances as well. If the movie comes to your area, it's more than worth the price of admission.

I saw this movie at a screening in Boston MA sponsored by Emerson college. I was impressed with the content of the film and how Jack Bryan the writer/director incorporates his characters and intertwines their lives into the dark depths of alcoholism and domestic violence. His choice of cast members was right on and I particularly liked his portrayal of the killer played by Chris Mulkey. I was surprised by the ending but not disappointed. This is a must see movie. I hope to have the opportunity to experience more works from this group of talented writers, directors, and producers along with all members who made this film what it is.

The storyline was fairly simple: some people set out to make something right but things go terribly wrong. Though far more low key, the dark-secrets-in-a-small-town vibe was reminiscent of "Mystic River" or "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead." The acting by the entire cast was superb - no scenery-chewing, just convincing. I could truly emphasize with the mother's anger and anguish and, though I might have reacted differently, I thought the chemistry between the daughter and her husband was thoroughly believable. Chris Mulkey was the true standout in this film. He was charismatic and utterly unnerving. Who ever said great things can't come in small (indie, small budget) packages?