Gun Hill Road

Brilliant, searing filmmaking. This is brutally honest, courageous work on all levels - exquisite storytelling that challenges, uplifts, tickles, and inspires even when addressing the depths of human despair, disappointment, uncertainty, and discouragement.

"Gun Hill Road" is an important first feature offering. It is not for the emotionally faint of heart. On the other hand, vulnerability and tenderness abound in every aching moment.

The performances are powerful and right on target. The filmmaking itself is nothing short of premium in every area. Shot under a modest budget, this film brings the craft to new heights. This movie does not back down. It's in your face. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It makes you cheer that such truth on the screen is, after all, possible.

I just saw this movie tonight, a few hours ago at the LALIFF. Gun Hill Road is a great movie, a must see. I give the rating a 10 because I haven't seen a movie like this before. I can not personally relate, but in this case it didn't matter. It made me really think about society, our views our ego's. A great job of showing the transitions, the family as a whole. The father then the son. It's nice to walk away from a movie and still be thinking about it, and the message hours later. I felt for all the main characters. Nice to see something that hasn't been done before. This film is digital, I enjoyed the look and the feel.I will watch it again. Everyone should see this movie.

Gun Hill Road is a powerful, courageous and deeply moving film. From start to finish, this magnificently-directed and captivating story feels 100% real and completely original. Gun Hill Road vibrantly depicts large, growing and yet almost completely unexplored contexts within American culture. This film evocatively addresses essential, timely and yet timeless human themes: our identity; our character; our family; our priorities and how we all struggle to balance these.

Obtaining brilliant, genuine performances from the entire cast throughout this well-layered plot, Rashaad Ernesto Green has clearly distinguished himself as an important new director to watch. What most distinctively succeeds in Green's full-length feature debut is the way one can connect emotionally with virtually EVERY character in this film. Esai Morales, Judy Reyes and newcomer Harmony Santana deliver profoundly multi-dimensional portrayals.

The ultimate proof of a sophisticated director resides in their ability to transport you into settings about which you may know little, but somehow enables you to raise challenging questions and emerge with new insights. Gun Hill Road is truly a breakthrough film from an exceptional director.

This movie was powerful! The rich, complex, tense family dynamics really drove realism and a deep engagement with the characters. I love Esai Morales, and this has to be one of the most stunning things I have seen him in, as he's working all the dimensions of his character's struggle to face what has changed in his life. My previous exposure to Judi Reyes was through "Scrubs". She really made you forget her old character Carla to display a a woman struggling with conflict and sacrifice. The entire cast was outstanding and authentic. Harmony Santana was just incredible in his transformation. An excellent, excellent movie, can't wait to see it in broader distribution!

The plot of the movie is what drew me to see this film. Just finally saw it and it is a good film, but it left me feeling like "eh, that's it?" Acting was sub-par to OK. I wasn't convinced for Harmony's acting. It felt too generic flat, which sucks since the premise of the movie is about her/him. The movie also failed, in my opinion to dive deeper to the situation at hand. The focus of the movie was in between Enrique and Michael but it had nothing to do with each other which didn't make me care that much for either of them. And the ending? Ugh... where is it? Overall, I was expecting a real dramatic movie. It still is an OK film, it kept me watching to see what will happen, but the acting and writing could have been much better. And I'm still wondering why its call Gun Hill Road.