Septien (2011)

A reclusive sports hustler returns home to his family farm after years of absence to reunite with his two eccentric, unhinged and emotionally damaged brothers.

Director:

Michael Tully

Writers:

Robert Longstreet (story), Onur Tukel (story),

Stars:

Rachel Korine, Brian Kotzur, Robert Longstreet

Cast

Credited cast:
Rachel Korine	...	Savannah
Brian Kotzur
Robert Longstreet	...	Ezra Rawlings
John Maringouin	...	Preacher
Mark Darby Robinson	...	Red "Rooster" Rippington
Onur Tukel	...	Amos Rawlings
Michael Tully	...	Cornelius Rawlings
Jeffrey T. Williams	...	Wealthy golfer
Jim Willingham	...	Wilbur Cunningham

Storyline

Suddenly and without explanation, Cornelius Rawlings, The Athlete (Tully), returns to his family's Tennessee farm eighteen years after he disappeared. His parents have died, but his two brothers -- Ezra, The Matriarch (Robert Longstreet) and Amos, The Artist (Onur Tukel) -- have continued their isolated, idiosyncratic lives on the family farm. The brothers receive the phenomenally bearded Cornelius' return with equal parts bewilderment and joy, but he remains a mysterious presence in their midst, slipping away occasionally to hustle cash as an unlikely ringer on the basketball and tennis courts. A tentative balance is struck, even as much remains unsettled and unsaid among the brothers... until a sleazy figure from their past returns, turning their world on its head. (Eric Allen Hatch, MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL)

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Plot Keywords:

hustler | preacher | brother brother relationship | one word title

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Taglines:

Smother The Demons

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 2011 (USA)

Filming Locations:

USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nomadic Independence Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

A sick comedy

"I call this one BREAKFAST," says the artist, pointing to a painting of cartoon demons and football players cutting off each others' genitalia and eating them with blobs of poop, "because it's the most important meal of the day."

SEPTIEN is definitely a one-of-a-kind. Its stark Gothic mood with brooding characters and thick tension make you feel like it's heading for a tragedy of Greek proportions. Its heavy pacing and suspenseful presentation (never quite explaining who anyone is until the very end) make you think it's a thriller or even a ghost story. Each & every character is heading for a nervous breakdown. Nobody smiles, ever.

It's hard to believe that this is a comedy, but I can't describe it any other way.

In the same way Tarantino and the Coen Brothers make hyper-violent, disturbing films that make us laugh, here we have a similar approach but without all the violence. The film carries the mood by using haunting images, hints of some dark trauma, and above all: secrets, secrets, secrets. This is brilliant mood-filmmaking at its best, folks.

Now throw into the mix some of the most bizarre characters you've ever seen. An odd bearded man who returns to his family after 18 years and who makes a living by doing strange things in the park. A brother who paints--as one character describes--"people cutting off their wee-wees and eating poop". A man who cooks & cleans like June Cleaver on crack. A creepy old guy and a very young, attractive girl whom he introduces only as "she's not my daughter!" A mysterious dude who spends the first half of the movie walking around with a briefcase. And a mentally-challenged kid who lives in a tire and seems to be the only sane person of the bunch.

What follows is the slow yet electrifying unravelling of secrets. Piece by piece we put together the jigsaw puzzle of what these people are all about. We make assumptions. Nothing is known for sure until the last 15 minutes when we get one of the most "wtf" climaxes and resolutions in the history of cinema.

I enjoyed this movie from the beginning, but it was that crazy ending that made me a fan. It's as if all the suspense, tension and weirdness that had been building up for the first 70 minutes just explodes in a dazzling display of fireworks. It will either leave you feeling totally satisfied or in need of some jumper cables to revive your brain. Either way, this is an experience that shouldn't be missed.