Take Me to the River

Al Green’s hit was once described by David Byrne as the connection between “teen lust and baptism” which is exactly what director Matt Sobel’s film of the same name abuts with its opening and closing events. Deadwood’s Robin Weigart hauls her family from California to the backwards backwoods of Nebraska for a family reunion just as son Ryan is on the verge of coming out! Contemptuously irked by the boy’s appearance wearing bright red short-shorts, the patriarch, Keith takes every opportunity to elicit animosity with innuendo and coarseness, especially once Ryan and cousin Molly, a nine-year-old pre-pubescent with a major crush on her cousin, disappear into the barn. Accusations of impropriety lead to both alienating suspicions and some unmentionable family secrets beneath the surface that will shape young ideas for years to come.

[NR]