White Lightnin'

I'm not familiar with the true story of Jesco White. (But I will be soon.) On viewing the film, I was happy with the portrayal of the dark side of life in the backwoods of Appalachia. Not knowing the true story didn't ruin things for me, and I truly enjoyed the film.

But...

If you're going to do a lot of research about Southern Appalachia and try to make the film as true to life as possible, it's unforgivable that Jesse repeatedly refers to one person as "y'all." Y'all is ALWAYS plural, and is only used when talking to more than one person.

For instance:

When Jesse talks to the fat man about his tattoos, he calls the man "y'all." No matter how fat a guy is, he's still one person. Jesse should call him "you."

When Jesse is talking to his dead father in heaven, he actually calls his father "y'all!" Best I can recollect, the man has/had ONE father.

This issue probably does not bother non-natives much, but it made me disrespectful of this director's work. Too bad the chosen film location was in Croatia. There was nobody around to correct this glaring error.

Hope y'all enjoy this here review.

There is no better summary line than the quote I used from the Guardian! The quote is on the poster of the movie too, along with "rollicking terrifying trip" and "white-trash psychobilly nightmare" both by Vanity Fair, and they fit perfectly. This movie is definitely a trip.

A trip that's worth taking. A movie that you might think is more violent than it actually is. On screen violence is pretty rare, or better put not explicitly. Apart from that, the story of a man (white-trash) is almost linear, but nevertheless confusing and appalling at once.

Bottom line: You'll either love this movie (because it's not only out there, but beyond) or you will hate it, because of it's craziness! I'm not going into story details, just be warned that this isn't for the faint hearted or overly religious. You could say it offends almost everyone it can!

Absolutely amazing film making and a great first effort from both the director and writers! I was sucked into this film from the get go and from its somewhat light hearted, troubling start it takes you on a wild ride of torment and madness. This is not a biopic, rather loosely based on the life of Jesco White (the "Dancing Outlaw", see documentaries) and combines some aspects of his life with a murder/revenge story. Pretty awesome and fitting soundtrack too. The music combined with the style of editing and overall theme gives this film that pop-culture, coolness type of feel, despite its sometimes graphic violence. See Hollywood, there is still plenty of good ideas out there, stop making all the crappy remakes and take some chances and Really worth checking this movie out, go do it now!

"I happen to have friends in the "deep south" and their neighbors are moonshiners. Would wake in the morning hearing shotgun blasts, killing wild turkeys? "White Lightnin' puts all the myths of the modern day hillbilly to rest." Hogg is amazing and outrageous at the same time and the cast is strong but the story as cut is just too fragmented for myself to give a slightly better than average review. The film is also too short and I think it needed more narrative to tell the story-line better. Well shot and designed with decent euphoric imagery works like a bad acid trip. Haunting and stays with you equals success for these Filmmakers. Soundtrack is very creative and original, but my only major downer was the too fast, quick cuts editorial. I look forward to this Directors future work for sure! -CSPS-Media

This is my 2009. favorite without any reconsideration. Dominic Murphy's debut is extremely powerful and complex work of Art. I got lucky to see it twice, at Berlinale and European Film Festival Palic, and both times i needed an hour to get sober after watching it. Storyline leads you trough the life of Jesco White, Appalachian step dancer, from the early childhood till the "imaginary" ritual death. Brilliant music and breathtaking performance of young Eduard Hogg makes this film unique experience. Usually i don't like watching violence on film and if someone tells you this is a slasher movie don't take him seriously. This is a story of Sins and Redemption. Evil and Divinity. Watch it!