Echoes of Violence aims to provoke thought, not just provoke. It comes off as rude, and then leads to an “aaaaahhhhhh…” Woods plays with his film’s chronology in a way that echoes Tarantino, though he uses fewer squibs and gun battles. In one scene, Marakya asks a blunt and odd question that takes at least half an hour to pay off. The script also does a great job of not beating the audience over the head with plot points. And the driving engine of the violence in this film - sex trafficking - is treated disturbingly matter-of-factly, with Woods’ script acknowledging that it’s prevalent, and most people would rather look somewhere else than see who might be complicit. Haunted by his evaluation of his past, in another life Kellin would have been labeled a hero. Former Marine Kellin (Chase Cargill) was quite good in combat, and it’s not quite PTSD that troubles him now. It’s filled with characters who are changed by violence done to them. For the most part, it’s strangely calm, as real effective evil would be. This isn’t a film reveling in violence, though it certainly has a few violent sequences. They just don’t see themselves that way, and if you were to encounter immigration lawyer Anthony (Taylor Flowers) in any other setting, you might find him smarmy but well-meaning. That’s not to say there aren’t clear villains there are. Then Woods rewinds and starts telling the story from another point of view, clouding our judgment over just how bad the “bad guy” is. She doesn’t want the police involved, because she’s an illegal immigrant. Though covered in blood, Marakya (Michaella Russell) only has one mark on her, where the killer had injected opiates. He’s unironically a good guy with a gun, turning his attention to the apparent victim as the would-be killer stumbles back into the brush. Opening on Sedona realtor Alex (Heston Horwin), Woods catches a snippet of typical real estate hustle when Alex hears gunshots and stumbles across a killing in progress.

In Echoes of Violence, writer/director Nicholas Woods focuses on that casual evil. And sometimes it’s even more complex - in the real world, some people waver on the spectrum, hopefully more good than bad, but to paraphrase Shakespeare, “the evil men do lives on after them.” It echoes, if you will, an unnoticed wave that still occasionally sucks the innocent under. Sometimes bad things happen to bad people that are out of whack with how bad they are. Sometimes it isn’t about bad things happening to good people. I encourage you to put any qualms you might have aside and give this one a try.Heston Horwin, Chase Cargill, and Michaella Russell in Echoes of Violence However, some viewers might see it as a thriller with an agenda. Echoes of Violence is not that kind of film and the trafficking mostly serves an impetus for the action. I usually steer clear of human trafficking films because some cross over into the realm of conservative propaganda. With that said, the movie gives us just the right amount of background information so we can become emotionally invested in these characters without ruining their allure. And I was curious as to why Marakya refers to South Africa as just Africa. I would have liked to have seen Kellin’s meeting with his father pan out a bit differently.

As the mystery unfolds, we learn more about these characters and their backgrounds. It’s got great performances by the three principal leads (Russell, Cargill and Horwin), interesting characters and the pacing is just right.

Written and directed by Nicholas Woods, Echoes of Violence is an engrossing thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

Echoes of violence 2021