By Geno McGahee
48 HOURS IN PURGATORY is brought to us by SKG Films and is written and directed by Jason Armstrong. A group of edgy filmmakers that have made their mark with their controversial films has set out to do a new project. Ronnie (Emily Alatalo) heard of a story of a man that had a barn collapse on him and after a few days came to some personal revelations. She proposes getting a test group, locking them up for 48 hours and seeing if the same thing will happen under controlled conditions. She gets the money and convinces the boss of the group, Brody (Andrew Roth) that it’s a good idea. They move forward with the project.
They elect to film in Canada, hold auditions, and get their group of test subjects, selected on the basis of making good television. After the hours upon hours of captivity, they become unhinged and start opening up about their past and their regrets. This leads Brody and Ronnie to look within as well, and the project begins including them as well as the subjects.
Ronnie and Brody have a history of romance but it has fizzled due to personal demons. Brody is carrying around a lot of guilt and it has crippled him in the love department. Ronnie is ready to go but still has a great deal of love for him. This new documentary that they are putting together is just the right movie at just the right time.
For the group, the project turns out to be much more than a movie and turns into a time of self reflection and healing. At the end of the movie, the viewers are left with hope for those involved.
48 HOURS IN PURGATORY is a mixed bag. The acting is very good (for the most part) for this level of film and it is shot really well, but there is a lot of repetition and it drags on at times. The film is 1 hour and 46 minutes and it probably could have been trimmed down to move along at a better rate. At times, it did really drag, but I did end up enjoying it.
The performances of the actors involved, especially Alatalo was impressive. She really seemed to be attached to this role and her emotions throughout felt very real. Her performance was a standout but ever actor and actress in this film did a great job.
The pieces of the puzzle were in place for 48 HOURS IN PURGATORY to be an exceptional film, but it just wasn’t paced as well as it should have been. The concept is very neat and the cinematography was pretty decent, but I had a difficult time sticking with it at times and felt a lot of it was really drawn out. I recommend this film and commend this group for doing giving an A effort. I look forward to their next project…
Rating: 5/10
