Movie Review: Thriller (2018)
Director – Dallas Jackson
Characters/actors:
Lisa Walker – Jessica Allain
Lisa Walker (13years old) – Teshi Thomas
Derrick Jackson – Luke Tennie
Derrick Jackson (13years old) – Marcus Ryan Doyle
Ty Reynolds – Mitchell Edwards
Ty Reynolds (13years old) – Noah Abbott
Gina Brown – Paige Hurd
Gina Brown (13years old) – Jordan Alexa Davis
Tiffany Rodriguez – Chelsea Rendon
Tiffany Rodriguez (13years old) – Reggie Zavala
Andre Dixon – Tequan Richmond
Andre Dixon (13years old) – Charles W. Greer IV
Amani Morris (13years old) – Bria Singleton
Kim Morris – Pepi Sonuga
Kim Morris (13years old) – Brooke Singleton
Chauncy Page – Jason Woods
Chauncy Page (13years old) – Zachariah Waller
Ronny De Berry – Maestro Harrell
Ronny De Berry (13years old) – Philip Solomon
Eddie Gomez – Michael Ocampo
Eddie Gomez (13 years old) – Angel Bonilla
Principal Hurd – Rza
Unique – Chauncey Jenkins
Mrs. Cruz – Valery Ortiz
Detective Johnson – Mykelti Williamson
Chauncy Page is a sweet 14-year-old who stutters. He bought a hot dog, he sees a homeless man and gives that man the hot dog. Other kids make fun of Chauncy. A girl asks Chauncy to help her find a cat in an abandoned house. Chauncy goes in and a bunch of students in skull masks taunt and chase him through the house. At one point Chauncy ends up upstairs and pushes one of the skull mask wearing kids. That kid falls down to the first floor and ends up dead. The kids gather by the not yet cold body and decide that they will say that Chauncy did it. Chauncy is arrested and spends four years in juvenile detention. I appreciate the fact that they did not show us all the horrors Chauncy went through while in juvenile detention. Instead they eluded to what he went through by showing moving comic like pictures – getting on the prison bus, someone spitting on him when he gets in, getting kicked while on the floor and locked in a cell with a bunch of stronger/older men. I feel that if Chauncy’s mother had money to hire an expensive but competent law firm. Those lawyers would have investigated and figured out that Chauncy was not to blame for the death, it was an accident on his part and so he should not be the one getting punished. But unfortunately, Chauncy did not have a good defense lawyer, the cops heard from the other kids that Chauncy did it and they did not dig any deeper, and the prosecutor charged Chauncy and he ended up in jail.
The next scene is four years later and Chauncy is free! He goes back home to his mother who might be an alcoholic – it was during the day and she was drinking from the bottle but it’s understandable because her son was sent to jail. Chauncy’s mom is happy that he is back but she continues to drink alcohol. At one point Chauncy’s mom tries to get Chauncy to dance and when he refuses she gets really upset with him and verbally puts him down. Chauncy’s mom has issues that she needs to deal with being a single parent, trying to raise a boy into a man as a mom, her son went to jail, not having a great job, living in a not so great neighborhood, etc.
The kids who blamed Chauncy for the death, have continued with life and currently attend Compton High School. Once Chauncy is out, the kids who put him in jail begin to die one by one!
The themes I saw in this movie are:
Bullying – Chauncy was bullied by the neighborhood kids because he was a sweet boy who stuttered. Kids can be cruel and those same kids grow up to be adult bullies.
Feeling stuck – all the kids feel stuck in Compton and some are trying to get out while others have given up.
Ty Renolds is a football star and his chance to get out is through getting recruited by a big college to play football for them.
Lisa Walker got into Spellman and her family is trying to figure out how to pay for it.
Derrick on the other hand, is smart but has been letting his grades slip because he will end up dead soon anyway so as he put it – “what is the point?”
Revenge – Chauncy lost four years of his life because the kids who set up the messed up prank blamed him for it and now when those kids begin to die, they are getting their just desserts!
The ending surprised me because the killer was not who I expected it to be and the one who saved the day was not who I thought it would be! I really liked the fact that all the characters were African American in this movie and I could just enjoy watching brown skinned people just living life and it was wonderful! I would recommend this movie for people who like movies with killers and murder.
Olusala Sisters 