Bruce Willis spends his limited screen time mostly smirking throughout the gritty, crime thriller,
“Midnight in The Switchgrass” from first time director
Randall Emmett (Co-producer, “The Irishman”).
That’s OK, because the real scene-stealers in this gripping drama are Emile Hirsch (“Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood”), Megan Fox (“Till Death”), and Lukas Haas (“Widows” and “The Revenant”).
“Midnight in the Switchgrass” is loosely based on a true story about a Texas serial killer who preys on young women. The movie takes place in Florida and Haas plays the creepy killer named Peter Hillborough.
Peter is a truck driver/manager and enjoys coming home to his wife and adorable young daughter Bethany (a particularly good Olive Elise Abercrombie, TV’s “The Haunting of Hill House”).
Still, there’s something a bit odd about the guy. At first you think he’s on the up and up when he comes to the rescue of a frazzled teen girl (Caitlin Carmichael, TV’s “Dwight in Shining Armor”) who is being harassed by a fellow trucker.
Tracey, (Carmichael) left a wild party she attended with her sister Heather (Sistine Rose Stallone, “47 Meters Down: Uncaged”) and Machine Gun Kelly, (rapper Colson Baker), a local drug dealing pimp.
Peter offers Tracey a ride after seeing she’s dazed and confused. He even offers her to stay at his house with family. Foolishly Tracey agrees. She soon discovers that was a terrible mistake. Peter isn’t the nice guy he claimed to be. He ties her up and locks her in a shed at his house. At least Tracey has a chance at surviving this ordeal. Peter killed another young girl, and her body was discovered by an insurance salesman.
As more bodies pile up, FBI agents Karl Helter (Willis) and Rebecca Lombardo (Fox) are in Florida investigating another murder. They meet with top cop, Byron Crawford (Hirsch) who is going crazy trying to connect the dots on the string of murders that are seemingly related.
They join forces to try and find Peter, and even use Agent Lombardo to lure him. Yet, their sting goes awry and places Agent Lombardo in danger along with Tracey. Now it’s a race against time to find this creep who appears to be two steps ahead of them.
“Midnight in the Switchgrass” is a twisty and suspenseful game of cat and mouse. Megan Fox really shines in it.
Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays at 6:20 p.m. on radio station KFBK 93.1 FM and 1530 AM.
Watch This Trailer For
"MIDNIGHT IN THE SWITCHGRASS"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC), The American Film Institute (AFI), and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.
