Don't Tell a Soul (2020)

Two thieving teenage brothers, stealing money to help their sick mom, match wits with a troubled security guard stuck at the bottom of a forgotten well.

Director:

Alex McAulay

Writer:

Alex McAulay

Stars:

Fionn Whitehead, Jack Dylan Grazer, Mena Suvari

Cast

Credited cast:
Fionn Whitehead	...	Matt
Jack Dylan Grazer	...	Joey
Mena Suvari	...	Carol
Rainn Wilson	...	Hamby
McKenna Christine Poe	...	Teenage Girl
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shannon Cogan	...	Broadcaster
Kate Duncan	...	Teenage Girl
Abigail Esmena	...	Officer Crane (as Abigail Esmena Froehle)
Richard Fike	...	Officer Smith
Graham Lutes	...	Tom Chowdee
Seth Poe	...	Party Guy

Storyline

Two thieving teenage brothers, stealing money to help their sick mom, match wits with a troubled security guard stuck at the bottom of a forgotten well.

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Plot Keywords:

money | 

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Taglines:

Some secrets should stay buried

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violence, teen drug use and a sexual reference

Did You Know?

Goofs

Around 34:10 when Matt throws the tank into the hole, any reasonable person would know that they could just turn the valve off, it would have been easy to show that Matt removed the valve handle, but he/the writers didn't do this. Instead, it's thrown in and Hamby attempts to throw this heavy tank of poison gas up 20+ feet to get it away which of course he fails at, instead of just turning the valve.

User Reviews

Digs itself a hole and can't get out of it

'Don't Tell a Soul' is something similar to what I would produce if I ever wrote a screenplay I suspect. I would just think "what is the most interesting thing that could happen next?" and then write it, with no regard for whether that is consistent with the story or the characters. There are some truly baffling character decisions in this film. The tempo switches and the changing of motives is almost impossible to keep up with. It's a shame because it truly hampers a film that, if handled the write way, had some real potential.

The film digs itself a bit of a hole (so to speak) early on and I don't think they knew how to dig their way out of it realistically. There's an interesting premise set up, but the logical next step to push the story along isn't a logical step. From there the story and character arcs all just go out of the window and the film falls apart. Where Mena Suvari's character for example ends up is about as ridiculous of a thing as I've seen in a film.

I wanted to like 'Don't Tell a Soul' but it just never clicked for me. Even at a very short 83 minutes it still feels like it drags on a little. Rainn Wilson is always fun to watch in anything he does, and there's the odd curve-ball in the mix that is a bit of fun, but overall this film didn't work for me at all.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Instagram page

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 2021 (USA)

Also Known As:

Don't Tell a Soul

Filming Locations:

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Unbridled Films, Mangano Movies & Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1