Director Jeffrey Obrow co-wrote Pursued with Julie Pifhera. It is a relentless thriller about obsession, loss, and the dangers hidden in plain sight on social media. With Madison Lawlor as Lark, the film wastes no time plunging into a story where grief collides with a sadistic predator.
Lark (Madison Lawlor) is a teenager struggling with grief and guilt after her father, Tom (Shawn Christian), dies in a tragic accident after Lark snuck out of her bedroom to be with her boyfriend, Chris (Joel Courtney). Two years later, Lark attends her graduation dance but walks away upset and broken-hearted, seeing Chris kissing another girl. But at least her mother, Carol (Molly Ringwald), is having a great time dating again, leaving Lark uneasy about new people coming into her life as Mom and her new guy go on a weekend trip together.
Meanwhile, a dangerous man is prowling the online dating world, preying on the young and beautiful Sarah (Alice Ziolkoski). Her mystery man is charming in public, but behind closed doors, he’s sadistic and his controlling behavior turns deadly. When a young woman winds up dead by the river, Lark realizes Vanessa’s killer has the same name as her mother’s new boyfriend, Mark (Angus Macfadyen). As she digs deeper on social media, Lark finds Sarah’s home address and drags her best friend Nicole (Taylor Blackwell) into searching the house for clues.
“A young woman wants to be a hero and solve a mystery, only to have the killer track her down.”
Determined to expose him, Lark investigates Sarah’s disappearance, even gaining access to the coroner’s office with the help of her teacher, Tom (Shawn Christian). But her pursuit of justice puts everyone close to her in jeopardy, as Mark realizes she is onto him. Soon, her mother, her friends Nicole (Taylor Blackwell) and Vanessa (Wyntergrace Williams), and even her grandfather (Paul Sorvino) are drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse, and everyone Lark is associated with turns out to be Mark’s next victim.
As the title Pursued suggests, director Jeffrey Obrow’s little tale is relentless. The setup is simple and perfect. A young woman wants to be a hero and solve a mystery, only to have the killer track her down. Eventually, Lark gets everyone she comes into contact with in danger. The beauty is that the killing never stops…in fact, when you think the movie’s over, it’s not. Even worse, the moment you start to like a character, they’re dead. This is by definition what thrillers should be.
The story is the star here. Yes, there are minor acting issues here and there, but the kills are torturous, painful, and at times gory. Angus Macfadyen makes a great villain as Mark (what a perfectly plain name). He never stops pursuing Lark in a Terminator-like fashion, materializing out of the shadows; it’s downright freaky.
Pursued is just over a hundred minutes long, and I firmly believe it’s that length because Obrow ran out of characters. Every new person Lark meets, innocent or not, is put at risk, and the film never lets its audience feel safe for long. The result is a brutal, fast-paced thriller that leaves no one untouched by its relentless pursuit.
For screening information, visit the Pursued official website.
"…the kills are torturous, painful, and at times gory..."
