Josie is a 2018 thriller about a solitary man living a dull existence in a sleepy town who raises eyebrows when he develops a questionable relationship with a recently arrived high school student.
From the start of Eric England‘s underwhelming Josie, there is a kind of malaise that binds upon the flow, leaving the film never truly able to wriggle its way free, even with a solid twist in the end. It’s a story that doesn’t make much effort to hide that it has its secrets, yet its lethargic pace – meant to set a mood – keeps this without momentum, playing its cards right out in the open.
In a small dusty Southwestern town out in the middle of nowhere, hermit-like Hank (Dylan McDermott) lives alone in a rundown motel apartment with his two turtles, hoping to keep invisible. He works at the local high school as a truant officer, which for this town means rolling up in his beat up pick-up and sitting at the entrance under the concealing shade of a giant tree. He’s hardly taken seriously, the students mocking him with every chance they get, most especially the confident Marcus (Jack Kilmer) and spidery Gator (Daeg Faerch). One day, with only three weeks left in the year, in arrives Josie (Sophie Turner), a senior who somehow takes an apartment on her own near Hank, explaining that her parents will arrive later. She lounges at the compound’s pool and gets Hank’s attention. Sensing something genuine about the older man, a curious relationship forms until the real reason Josie has come is revealed.
A character like Hank is one probably most actors looking to be taken seriously long for. It’s one of those ambiguously dark, deeply-haunted souls that make for vessels of great transportation for audiences interested in stories with greater arc. However, as good as McDermott is, the film never really explores that potential, even as many moments evoke a layer of sadness that help keep Hank away from overtly creepy, especially when we gets scenes of him watching Josie while in his underwear. Why he’s like that is part of the reason why it works. This is a guy with many burdens. He often has visions of a man in an orange prisoner garb staring blankly at him from across the way.
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The problem is Josie, a young woman loaded with questions that the movie simply refuses to peel open beyond generic sexual affectations, hoping to keep her secret a bombshell when it lands. She’s inherently smarter than everyone else, is coy and clever, clearly saddled with serious motivations and while this does get some of Hank’s quirky neighbors in a tussle, including the persistently nosey Mrs. Gorfein (Robin Bartlett), it mostly serves to delay the reveal.
Obviously, England, working from a script by Anthony Ragnone II is toying with the male fantasy, and in today’s progressive climate is a tricky line to walk. There are some disturbing themes here and generally the filmmakers handle it well yet for the keen observer, the secrets Josie keeps will surface far earlier than the film intends. Josie has grand ambitions that live in pale shadows, a film so quiet and still, it barely moves.