Adrien Grenier's TRASH FIRE Is a Dysfunctional Family Horror Thriller - Sundance Review
So this was an unpleasantly strange movie! Trash Fire is kind of a horror mystery thriller that stars Entourage's Adrien Grenier. He plays a top-notch douchebag boyfriend and just a douchebag person in general. He is extremely offensive in his insults and outbursts. It's really quite awkward and definitely supposed to make people uncomfortable.
The movie starts with Grenier's character Owen in a therapy session with his sleeping shrink talking about how he wanted to kill himself after his parents were killed in a fire and his little sister was burned and scarred on over 80% of her body. He could never come up with the courage to go through with it, though. There are mysterious circumstances revolving around his parents' deaths, and there are strange, loud, maddening visions of fire and pain that Owen has.
The guy has some serious issues, and he is emotionally abusive to his girlfriend, Isabel. They are an extremely dysfunctional couple who should not be together, but when she gets pregnant everything is reevaluated. She doesn't want to have the baby, but one night he comes to the realization that he does and that he wants to change his life and be a father. She's kind of apprehensive about this but decides to give it a shot if he makes amends with his grandma and sister Pearl, who he hasn't seen or talked to since the funeral of his parents.
Once they get to Owen's grandma's house the whole tone of the film changes. It's almost like a separate movie. Owen warns his girlfriend that his grandma is crazier than he is, and that proves to be so true in the worst possible ways.
We learn that she emotionally abuses her Pearl, and says terrible things about her own daughter, on several occasions calling her a whore and Pearl an abomination. As hard and crazy as things get, Owen doesn't want to leave until he talks to Pearl, but she doesn't want to. All the while she stalks the eerie house at night with a shotgun.
As all of this is happening, the relationship between Owen and his girlfriend starts to get a little stronger. A part of that is because they bond over their dislike of Grandma. Owen doesn't seem as crazy when he's in this house around his grandma and Pearl. Everything else going on around him is just so creepy, it's like an intense nightmare.
Throughout the film, we learn more and more about Owen's past and the death of his parents, which he blames himself for. This is a slow burn kind of story, and everything is building up to an insane bloodbath finale.
The movie was odd, but I liked it because of its bizarre unpredictability. I never knew what was going to happen next, so it kept me on the edge of my seat. This movie isn't for everyone, but those of you who enjoy watching horror films like this might actually enjoy it.
Trash Fire was directed by Richard Bates Jr., and he's made a film that has the potential to gain a cult following. I'm sure this movie will end up on VOD and Netflix at some point.