68 Kill: SXSW Movie Review

68 Kill, adapted from the graphic novel of the same name, stars Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds) and AnnaLynne McCord (Excision) as Chip and Liza, a young couple whose plan to steal $68,000 from Liza’s sugar daddy leads into something more deranged and violent.

This punk-rock grind-house thriller won the Audience Award: Midnight Movie at SXSW and was the talk of the festival, and understandably so. Writer/Director Trent Haaga (Cheap Thrills, Deadgirl) is no newcomer to genre films, and here he goes into full-exploitation mode. 68 Kill really does have it all: sex, drugs and tons of blood. But what stood out to me the most were the performances from Gubler, McCord, and Alisha Boe (13 Reasons Why) who heighten the film’s energy with their eccentric performances. That being said, towards the end it can become somewhat tiresome, with the introduction of some obnoxious characters that have moments of “crudeness-overload”. But for the short 93-min run-time that it is, 68 Kill is a fun ride for the not-so-easily-offended.

*IFC Midnight picked up 68 Kill with a release date set for August 4th.*

Jordan Figueredo

Cigar City Magazine Staff Writer and Movie Critic.

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