The Snare - Movie Review

The Movie: The Snare

The Director: Merlin Camozzi

The Cast: Cassady McClincy Zhang, Dempsey Bryk, Lucy Walters

The Story: When a high school student is arrested with a small amount of drugs, the police pressure her to become an informant - forcing her to choose between the people she most loves and the future she's worked so hard to create.

The Rating: 8 / 10

The Review:

How do you escape a reality and a way of life that is doing everything it can to keep you down and hold you back? That's the question that writer/director Merlin Camozzi poses to the audience in this intense drama that I feel like is going to sit with me for a while as I think about all the social, cultural, and economical dynamics that come into play throughout the story. It really made me think about how easy it can be for anyone to get caught up in something by pure chance or without any control and it ends up impacting the rest of your life. I know I can relate on some level and I'm wondering how many people out there would feel the same.

I think that's why this movie was so affecting for me as it's so easy to find points in our lives where we feel like things are spiraling out of control and one decision can lead to an avalanche that feels unstoppable at the time. Some movies exist as an escape from reality, while others, like this one, are more of a reality check or a way for the viewer to gain a fresh perspective on situations and circumstances that have had an impact on our lives. Camozzi does a great job with this without the movie coming off as preachy or overbearing. It's as entertaining as it is introspective.

Cassady McClincy Zhang, who Walking Dead fans will recognize, plays Dani, a graduating high school student who has an extremely bright future mapped out in front of here despite growing up in poverty, a broken home, and the type of small town that can easily keep a person trapped within its borders. She plays the character with a vulnerability and an urgency that puts you right in the middle of her world as it begins to come crashing down around her. Dempsey Bryk also puts in solid work in what turns out to be a very complicated role with his character also falling into a seemingly inescapable set of circumstances.

There's no fairy tale ending here although the story and its eventual conclusion also aren't all doom and gloom. There's hope embedded into the narrative that turns the movie into a surprisingly cathartic experience, at least it was for me, that I think most people will enjoy or at least appreciate. Every once in a while, a film pops up out of nowhere and becomes one of those movies that sticks with me for a long time and The Snare is definitely that movie for me right now.

Thank you for reading this review. The Snare will have a short run in theaters before debuting on VOD formats so please take the opportunity to support independent film and go check this one out.