Whitewash

"You know, they say, that every guilty person is his own hangman. They also say that tomorrow will be a better day." Bruce (Church) is a snowplow operator in the cold desolate Quebec woods. He spends his nights alone with a bottle. One night when the two mixed he winds up accidentally killing someone. Rather then do what is right he decides to do what he can to cover it up. While he thinks of ways to hide what he did he begins to remember the man he killed and the events leading up to the tragedy. This is a hard movie to review and explain. The movie is good and Church is great in it but on the other hand it is pretty slow moving and not much happens. The movie reminded me a lot of A Single Shot which came out a few months ago. Both deal with accidental killings and the lengths these loners will go to to cover up what they did from the world but are unable to run away from it mentally. If you liked the Single Shot movie you will enjoy this. For everyone else it is one you will either like or one you may not be able to finish. Give it a chance though you may be surprised. Overall, good acting and Church does such a great job that it's almost worth watching just for him. I give this a B-.

A Canadian drama; A story set in snowy rural Quebec about a man who makes himself prisoner following a tragic accident. The main theme of this tale is that a good deed that turns bad does not go unpunished. It's well acted, with Haden Church bringing some humour and an impressive monologue to what is a tragic development for his character. It's a slender film, but it does have some impact as a crime and punishment tale.

Director Emanuel Hoss-Demaris & writer Marc Tulin have only made two films: both of which are unexceptional but quirky. Prior to 2018 dramedy "Birthmarked" they co-wrote 2013 Canadian small-town crime-drama "Whitewash" in which Thomas Haden Church (solid) hits & kills Marc Labrèche with his little snow-plow, hides the body, then careers off into the surrounding woods where he's trapped / hides out. The men's brief history is revealed via flashbacks, as Haden Church it seems goes rather mad - but those expecting a clear cut conclusion will be disappointed. Hoss-Demaris & Tulin are an off-centre duo indeed... what might they produce next?

Since his first entry into the realm of Oscar-lovers and voters, Thomas Haden Church seemed like a one-trick pony. His newest effort in Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais' film Whitewash has the actor delivering his finest work yet. Telling the story of Bruce, a man heavy on the bottle, who after he hits a man with his bulldozer during a snowstorm, ventures out into the cold Canadian woods to hide for survival.

As the narrative travels in and out of present and past time, writers Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais and Marc Tulin manage to keep the subdued aura of the film while still keeping it interesting and inventive. Many choices in storytelling and shooting will remind many of the underrated film from Joe Carnahan, The Grey (2012), but the characters here felt much more accessible, both in flaws and pros. The dreary and intimate portrait captured by Cinematographer André Turpin is what encourages the film to go to another place cinematically. His choices along with Hoss- Desmarais' direction keep the story and the audience close and working together to get to our resolution.

Thomas Haden Church really manages to outdo himself as an actor and for the first time, becomes something bigger than he probably though of himself to be. In a tale of survival, in both the physical and criminal sense, Church lays out of an agenda that is both demanding of himself and philosophically sound. He walks the line of composure and is absolutely hypnotic. His performance is both poetic and visceral and becomes the first authentically genuine and raw male performance of the film year. He has never been better. What Whitewash also manages is an introduction to actor Marc Labrèche, who is simply fantastic in his role of Paul, a mysterious figure that will bring you on an emotional roller coaster to his defying finale.

The film is surely a risky endeavor and while the film utilizes the audience's imagination and requirement to let certain laws of physics go, the bridge from the film to the resounding mind of film-lovers is clearly passionate and aptly brutal. It's vividly melancholic in execution and could be one of the best films of the year. Small yet larger than itself, Whitewash is a tranquil message of survival and redemption.

Whitewash on paper sounds like the most boring film ever made but as a film, Whitewash is an excellent story of survival as Bruce, Thomas Haden Church, a local snow plow driver and a drunk in a rural Quebec town who accidentally kills a man while driving his plow on a stormy evening. Out of a drunken paranoia, he hides out in the wilderness during a severe storm. In the time that he is by himself, he reflects back on the events that got him where he is. This film is absolutely fantastic. It is paced beautifully and gives the audience just enough, minute by minute to keep the audience interested. Writer/Director Emanuel Hoss- Desamaris proves he is one hell of a director. Equal parts psychological thriller and survival drama, Desamaris does a wonderful job blending these genres, filling the void with a clever voice-over from Bruce. Thomas Haden Church is absolutely phenomenal here, flawless in his performance. To be able to take a film and carry it from start to finish is no easy feat for an actor and for Church to be able to pull it off effortlessly really makes you question why this guy isn't in more stuff because he is truly mesmerizing here. Cinematographer André Turpin does an amazing job here as well, chronicling the harsh environment Bruce is in all while delivering extreme suspense in certain scenes, it is really well done and with the added snow merely intensifies his imagery here. It is very close to Roger Deakins and Conrad Hall's work. Another highlight with this film is the score by Serge Nakauchi Peletier. It is a beautiful piece of music that fit the film perfectly and if the cinematography or the acting doesn't cut it for you, the score sure as hell will. Out of the box and absolutely triumphant, Whitewash is a relentless psychological drama that uses ever minute of its runtime wisely and has Thomas Haden Church in a career best performance.