Complacent

Watched this film last night after hearing about it on social media and i have to say Wow.... If you are someone who suffers from depression or anxiety there are definitely a couple moments in this film that will make you tear up. Solid acting from the entire cast i was very impressed especially with Cerina Vincent who is usually more known for her roles as a scream queen (Cabin Fever, It Waits..., Return To House On Haunted Hill) or being the Yellow Power Ranger from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, but she really shines here, Keri Green, Joey Kern and everyone else all deliver strong performances also. The ending is a tear jerker i highly recommend.

COMPLACENT directed by Munroe who has been at it for several years appears to be a micro-budget quickly and hastily shot film. The film portrays dysfunctional suburban American life and has multiple characters and multiple relationships. It is kinda like an amateur student film version of MAGNOLIA.

The core relationship is between two sisters Myah (Cerina Vincent) and Beth (Kerri Green) who look nothing like sisters at all. In addition Vincent appears badly cast in this film -- she sports what appear to be large fake breasts, a spray tan, and a hard muscular body and she is supposed to be the moral center of the film, a strong woman all about love, emotion, being real, and standing up against dysfunctional relationships. She would be better cast as a scantily clad screaming girl in a horror flick (which she has done) or the call girl or Bally's personal trainer with fake breasts and a tanning package. Kerri Green as her sister "BETH" gives a stronger performance and is better cast.

The photography and sound is poor in the film -- looks like cheap video and rushed sound editing but these are typical of indie projects. The camera angles too are very jarring and do not cut well together during the dining table scenes (which are used as chapters in the film). And the sets look cheap -- but maybe that was the point being that the film is about middle class suburban America.

There are some positives: Keir O' Donnel, who also acts in the film and gives a strong performance. And the story works overall and has some nice reveals and ties in together well in the end.

Once in awhile you watch a film that you really just connect with on a personal level whether its the characters, the plotline, the performances, something about it draws you in, For me Complacent is that film. Cerina Vincent has always been one of those rare actresses who can instantly grab your attention if she's screaming running from some creature or delivering a heartfelt emotional piece. In this film there is a lot of the latter, my ONLY gripe with the film is the over usage of the same piano track during sentimental moments onscreen. From my understanding this film is just now barely seeing the light of day after a release on Apple TV and iTunes in 2021. The Film had a brief stint on Netflix in 2011 and then was unavailable anywhere until recently. Such a shame had this been given proper distribution or maybe a limited theatrical release i could have seen Golden Globe Nominations for Cerina Vincent, Kerri Green and Keir' O Donnel even Joey Kern (He's excellent at playing an stuck up A-hole).

Excellent film its very deep the story is tragic the lead actors are all excellent.

IMDb reports the film's budget was 70K, which seems mighty impressive to have been completed for so cheap, but after seeing it, it makes sense, even with a moderate amount of B/C-list celebrity star power.

Overall, the most compelling aspect of the story is whether or not it will get any worse. Each role is so cliché, and it's hard to become attached to any of the characters. Even the children's acting is poor.

Certainly the writing is the worst part of it all. No time was put into the script and I'm not sure how so many familiar faces decided it was a good idea to sign on for this project.

I watched it on Netflix, and I suggest you do not do the same.