100 Days to Live was about as surprising a film as you can get. When I purchased this film I honestly knew nothing about it. Never heard of it, saw a trailer, or anything of the like. But after unwrapping this mid-budget Indie film I couldn't have been more surprised. It was similar to opening up your Christmas gifts when you were a kid. You'd stumble upon that one gift and open it up only to realize it's not what you expected but you enjoyed the heck out of playing with it anyhow. For a film with a really small budget the impact it had on me was anything but small due to it's excellently told story full of twists and turns and it's surprisingly great acting.
The film moves at an incredibly snappy pace and has some really good dialogue throughout to keep the story fresh. As you would expect the film dives into a lot of serious subjects like suicide and depression and for the most part it comes out with promising results. While I have read some reviews that have claimed the film is boring or slow I honestly did not feel that way at all. There were two specific twists that were really, really well done. Right when I thought I knew where the story was going it veered off into left field and I couldn't have enjoyed that twist more. Aside from some clumsy mishaps from the police and detectives and questionable decisions they made everything else feels really believable as well. Nothing regarding the core of this story comes across as far-fetched or unbelievable. As the film begins to unravel and you begin to learn more about Rebecca, Gabriel, and "The Savior" big revelations take place that I certainly enjoyed. This is an ambitious and creative script and one that first time writer-director Ravin Gandhi pulls off pretty dang well.
The acting is also really, really well done. Heidi Johanningmeier nails every facet of Rebecca incredibly well and it surprises me that when I looked up her filmography it was quite bare. She delivers a great well rounded performance as Rebecca and I loved watching her do it. Colin Eggelsfield's Gabriel is also really good delivering some very emotional scenes that really help carry the character of Gabriel. Gideon Emery's "The Savior" is an emotional but insane serial killer that has specific reasons for why he targets who he does and why he's doing what he's doing. Gideon gives the role both menace and empathy and it makes this particular serial killer stand out from other one dimensional serial killers.
The directing is also really good jumping from flashbacks to different characters to different victims. You never know quite where the film is going to go and Ravin Gandhi handles it all exceptionally well. Even though you can tell he had a very small budget to work with he truly makes the most out of every last cent he used. This is a small budget indie film wrapped in a big budget thriller. I really enjoy when writers also direct their own film because it allows that film to really be fully expressive of their initial vision. Nothing seems taken for granted and everything seems earnest and earned to what their original vision must have been. I certainly look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.
100 Days to Live surprised me at every single twist and turn. I was enthralled with this film from beginning to end. While it's certainly not heavy on action or gore it's certainly heavy on very interesting well told story threads and really well written characters. Don't just listen to the negative reviews on this one because I truly believe they don't paint a fair picture here. This is a hidden indie gem that deserves more than 100 Days (to Live) in the spotlight.
