Blue Ruin (2013)

A mysterious outsider's quiet life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. Proving himself an amateur assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.

Director:

Jeremy Saulnier

Writer:

Jeremy Saulnier

Stars:

Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves

8 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Macon Blair	...	Dwight
Ydaiber Orozco	...	Amanda (Rental Houser Mother)
Ronald Sarcos	...	Eric (Rental House Father)
Dani Santiago	...	Daughter #1
Adrian Santiago	...	Daughter #2
George Fredericks	...	Metal Detector Couple
Elizabeth Fredericks	...	Metal Detector Couple
Sidné Anderson	...	Officer Eddy
Brooke Bennett	...	Smoking Girl
Ellen Danaher	...	Pawn Shop Clerk
Katie Kramer	...	Supermarket Cashier
Shelley Illmensee	...	SUV Driver
Kevin Kolack	...	Teddy Cleland
Stacy Rock	...	Hope Cleland (Cousin)
Eve Plumb	...	Kris Cleland (Sister)

Storyline

A mysterious outsider's quiet life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. Proving himself an amateur assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.

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Plot Keywords:

vengeance | neo noir | vigilante | written by director | crossbow | 

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Taglines:

Revenge comes home

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence, and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 July 2014 (France)

Also Known As:

Untitled Revenge Project

Filming Locations:

Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,066,167 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$32,608, 27 April 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$258,113, 22 June 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Lab of Madness,Film Science,Neighborhood Watch

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jeremy Saulnier revealed in an audience Q and A that the reason the Pontiac has bullet holes in it at the beginning of the story is because it is the same car that Dwight's parents were murdered in by Big Wade Cleland.

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Goofs

When Margaret Gaffney asks Dwight if he's in a rush, the stove clock behind her reads 8:26. Two shots later it reads 8:32 despite the fact that almost no time has passed within the film.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Officer Eddy: [wakes Dwight by knocking softly on his car door] Get ready. I'd like you to come into the station.
Dwight: I... Is it about the house. 'Cuz I could...
Officer Eddy: Dwight, sweetheart, I'll explain. Okay? Just come with me.

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Connections

Referenced in Someone Has to Review It!: Year-end Special! (2015)

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Soundtracks

Fangs
Written and performed by She Keeps Bees
Licensed courtesy of Domino Publishing Company Ltd.

User Reviews

A great suspense thriller on a shoestring budget

One of the strongest achievements in recent years in independent cinema is "Blue Ruin". It's brilliantly written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier who just a few years ago was making his own amateur monster movies with his friends, some of whom were involved in this inspired revenge thriller that is the antithesis of the usual commercial revenge thriller.

Shot on a less-than-shoestring budget, it stars Macon Blair (best friend of Saulnier since childhood) as Dwight, an apparent homeless drifter housing a grudge against a convict about to be released from prison whom he feels had murdered his parents. Dwight is obviously unaccustomed to violence (he's never fired a gun) and, as in the best of the Noir classics, makes one bad decision that plunges him way over his head into a harrowing murder plot that'll keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

What makes this film so unique is how its suspense comes from slow, quiet inexorable tension punctuated with a few acts of violence that seem authentic, bearing none of the sensationalism or tired clichés one gets in garbage like "Taken" and its tiresome ilk. The triumph of "Blue Ruin" is even greater when one realizes that its director used his own family house and his family car making it, and managed such a height of verisimilitude by using cinema in its purest form. Here an 'amateur' outdoes the Hollywood pros in making a superb virtually perfect thriller that won't easily be forgotten.