I greatly enjoy the work of the police dramas on services such as Brit Box and Acorn TV. Distinctly British locations in seaside towns, villages, or gritty metro settings with intense characters solving an evolving story or a single crime. Looking like it was one of those is the filmmaker Fredi ‘Kruga’ Nwaka’s Forgive Me Father, a murderous little crime thriller about mutilations and family secrets.
The picture has all the trappings: the concerned crusading, well-armed police, the cityscape, the victimized children, and a horrible crime that just won’t go away. Opening with Detective Taylor (Cindy Humphrey), who is investigating a brutal murder of a family – with one exception, elderly Patricia (Annabel Davis). Patrica refuses to tell all, only deepening the mystery with cryptic answers. The police also find out that a purple car departed the crime scene, but they struggle to solve the crime and why someone would commit such a hateful act that remains a dead case.
Two years pass, and Detective Taylor hasn’t forgotten the case; She has lost family due to a car accident. Elderly Patricia has been kidnapped to finish the job. Taylor gets a call to attend a crime scene where Glen (Bradley Turner), a petty thief, is on the run with his 5-year-old daughter Anna (Camilla Elliot). In desperation, he and Anna hide out in a church, but police soon surround that place. Inside the church, an elderly priest, Father Blakefield (Tim Faraday), seems to be ok with being taken hostage as the Clergy in the film seem to be. The Father befriends Glen and earns his trust with anecdotes of his troubled life. He even helps him to get his daughter to safety from the police outside. However, things aren’t always what they seem. Patrica’s phone is tracked to the church. The family killer is inside.
“…a brutal murder of a family – with one exception, elderly Patricia…”
Forgive Me Father moves slickly along but seems rushed with too many supporting characters. The running time of 75 minutes means a lot happens quickly, making the story seem like it was a larger series of episodes cut down to the brief time allotted.
Character-wise and acting-wise, Forgive Me Father gives the impression of a level playing field without anyone standing out due to the cramming of details. Bradley Taylor’s Glen and Tim Faraday’s Father Blakefield have some good chemistry and a fun dialogue in the church. The villains should either have a presence to reflect menace without being present or should dominate the moments that don’t happen on any level. Cindy Humphrey’s Detective Bailey and the other supporting characters on the team just fill the screen with dialogue. The climax is rather underplayed, wondering if all the gore from the beginning of the film was worth it or just shock value.
Meanwhile, Forgive Me Father is well-directed and has effective opening credits. Murky cityscapes, gore with body parts in a jacuzzi with a music scape soundtrack packaging a convoluted story. Moments of suspense, yes, in the church, which is the best part of the film, winds the story down. A bit like chewing gum that starts with the flavour and then becomes work to chew, yet you go back for more.
"…a murderous little crime thriller about mutilations and family secrets"
