Flinch 2021| Movie Review | Everything you need to know

3 years ago

Over the years, online streaming platform Netflix has changed the way Television is made and consumed. With so many super hit movies and popular TV shows, it has kept the audience captivating. And despite the massive competition and imitators, people regard it as the best streaming service available. The reason behind all the success is its intriguing and engaging content that pleases the audience and gives them essential entertainment even in this pandemic. But there are also films you won’t find on Netflix being released. You have to purchase them on Amazon, iTunes or find a Theater, Flinch being one of them.

With so many releases each month, Flinch is an original crime thriller film that showcases the conventional crime thriller owned by women this time. The film is a Deadshot combination of bad-luck damsels and paranoid mobsters that gives you enough thrill and surprises to keep you locked in.

Written and directed by Cameron van Hoy, the film’s concept is painfully simple and gives fans a lot to cheer through its inventive plot. Although there is nothing extraordinary, and the movie seems to be like many others, it still has the fun and sparks to make it count.

The story of the film moves around Joe Doyle (Daniel Zovatto) a young hitman who is living with his mother Gloria (Cathy Moriarty) and develops feelings for the female witness of a murder he commits.

Synopsis

According to the film’s synopsis: Joe is a young damn good hitman. He is quiet and reserved, and like his father, he is careful and observant that makes him good at whatever he does. As part of his job, he works with some notorious evil individual, and now they have given him an important task to accomplish.

Usually, when he starts studying his target, he tends to capture their every move, and by night he browses social media and watches old movies. Over the period, he has been successfully implementing his strategies and getting the job done. But this time around, while chasing his new victim ED Terzian (Tom Segura) – the city council member – he develops a distant crush for councilman’s assistance Mia ( Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and falls for her.

However, when Mia accidentally witnesses her boss’s assassination, life gets more complicated, and Doyle becomes conflicted about what next he should do. He caught her and failed to decide whether he should let her go or dispose of her to god. For instance, Doyle aims the gun at her head, but Mia doesn’t flinch.

Unsure of what to do, Doyle takes her back to his house to figure things out and gain some clarity. However, his mother Gloria becomes more concerned about his life and asks Doyle to kill Mia.

Contrarily, the boss of Doyle and his son starts questioning him about the missing girl. And Doyle slowly comes to figure out that Mia might not be entirely what he thinks she is. Now he is at the point where he has to navigate the most testing phase of his life.
What Film has to offer?

This film is a beautiful combination of death and romance. The writer, director Cameron Van Hoy has depicted the story beautifully and has given the testament that love is an essential aspect of society. No matter how notorious or stubborn the individual is, love has the potential to transform him into a submissive creature who is ready to dismiss himself. Although it is not the same in the Flinch, the audience can understand Doyle’s sentiment and what he goes through.

Right from the start, the film has captivating chemistry between the characters. It is this chemistry that makes the audience intertwined with the struggle of the character of the film. Besides this, Flinch’s every moment is filled with surprises and suspense, and the audience is quite sure of what to expect.

However, the best part of this film is its creepy, ominous, and dark plot. It gives the audience an understanding of what is taking place in the mind of all the characters. As a result, the audience keeps on guessing what will happen next, and this doesn’t let them sit comfortably while watching. Besides this, the story may seem simple, but the filmmaker has done a sublime job to provide the audience with pure entertainment.

As the film has various twists and surprises, it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats all the time. Although these aspects are enough to make Van Hoy’s effort fruitful, let me tell you there is far more to the Flinch than this drama and suspense.

The characters are not complex, and the action sequences are fun to watch with clear and concise cinematography. Some might think that Joey Doyle’s character in the film is composite, but it is formulaic and a treat to watch.

Who is in the cast?

There are a lot of things to love about this formula crime thriller. Along with suspense and twist, there is a pretty good cast and incredible performances.

As the film is the story about a bad guy who meets a girl at the wrong time, the chemistry between Daniel Zovatto and Tilda Cobham-Hervey seems to be quite compelling.

Daniel Zovatto is playing Joe Doyle, and Cobham-Hervey is playing Mia. Thanks to their chemistry, the duo seems to immediately hit it off and breathes life in their characters with powerful performances.
The relationship between them is beautifully portrayed as both were incredibly overprotective and extremely codependent.

The far-fetched nature of their relationship left the audience mesmerized because both are seasoned actors and have already established themselves in the industry.

Besides these two talented young actors, there is Cathy Moriarty, a legendary American Actress and Academy Award Nominee. She has been in the industry for the last 30 years and is known to bring gravitas and warmth to every character she plays. In Flinch, she is playing Gloria Doyle, the mother of young Joe Doyle.

Tom Segura is also in the Film and does an amazing job. Casting director Michelle Lewitt also hired Tom Segura as Edward Terzian. He is highly talented and immensely popular with his ability to connect with the audience. Although his role in the film is small, he is capable of making it count even without two leads.

Moreover, all the individuals included in the cast are full of potential, and regardless of where they come from, they are capable of delivering stellar performances.

Although the story present in the Flinch may seem downright impossible and unnatural. However, the message of love and brilliance of actors allowed the film to get a place in the heart of viewers.

Director’s point of view

In one of the interviews, Van Hoy talked about the film and the effort he put behind every scene. During the shooting of the film, most of the scenes were filmed at night in LA. And he spent many nights driving around Los Angeles lit by neon signs, synthwave music, and aesthetics that played a crucial part in inspiring the overall film’s tone.

Talking about the script, he stated that while writing the script back in 2017, I wanted to give the viewer a character of a young hitman who was quiet yet powerful and very good at his job.

Moreover, as he was being raised by a single mother himself, he wanted to portray a character of a guy who wants to live his overbearing but loves his mother, who is complicit with his line of work.

He further stated “Being raised by a single mother myself, I understand the complexity of this relationship. I saw how hard my mother fought to protect me, and I too feel an innately strong responsibility to protect her”.

According to him, criminal characters are different from the superhero protagonists of the modern-day. He added, superheroes are superior prototypes that we aspire to be, while criminals are a version of ourselves we could easily become.

Bottom-line

The rise of streaming services in the last few years has evolved the idea of exhibiting and disturbing independent films. Like many other movies, Flinch is also distributed independently and has pleased the audience and critics.

Although we have already arrived in 2021, COVID-19 is still around. Therefore the audience are not allowed to visit the theater. In this regard, streaming services are a great source of entertainment, and releasing FLINCH online will allow the audience to get the thrill from the comfort of their home.

Flinch is not just an old crime thriller with a kidnapping gone wrong. Setting on the core of the relationship with some cool aesthetic the film is a cute mixture of mafia movies and romance.
Besides this, in the search for some excitement, the presence of strong female characters propels the story ahead and fills it with mystery and suspense.

Throughout the film, director Van Hoy showcases spatial awareness, patience, and narrative control along with enough twists and turns to keep the audience engaged. While the movie comes with a lot of suspense and surprises along the way, no one could expect how the plot flips so cleverly.

So with a solid plotline and impressive cast, overall flinch is truly a group effort that the director and crew will be proud of.