In today’s sensitive political climate, a film like Dragged Across Concrete is sure to prod, offend, and enrage. The third feature from writer and director S. Craig Zahler, the film is a perfect cauldron of incendiary messaging - from its casting to its characters and narrative, Dragged Across Concrete teems with nasty provocations that will undoubtedly cut against the grain of all liberal sensibility. But, Zahler’s latest is also an effective and engrossing police thriller that paints realistic portraits of its characters, rough edges and all. As a left-leaning member of today’s society, my experience with the film is a curious paradox: a cautious and hesitant appreciation for a stylized and violent tour de force, even if it is steeped in a harrowing backwards morality. Mild spoilers below…

The Standoff at Sparrow Creek, screenwriter Henry Dunham’s directorial debut, is a quiet VOD and limited release sure to fly under the radar of general audiences during this sleepy January. A taut and effective single-location thriller, the film’s pulp dialogue and airtight pacing make it one of 2019’s first great surprises. The always welcome and underrated James Badge Dale rounds out an all-star cast of character actors in a pulse-pounding mystery. Minor spoilers ahead...