Full of mystery and driven forward by the fractured human psyche, Among Them tells the story of two criminals on the run. After Harry (Jonathan Thomson) and Mick (Dan Liebman) commit a crime that goes sour, they find themselves holed up in a fleabag motel, waiting for their getaway plan to move forward. Like their awry crime, their escape plan also begins to unfold in ways that they never expected. When they discover that their getaway car has a hostage tied up and unconscious in the trunk, they are thrown into a world of great mystery and psychological trauma that will slowly unravel them at their very seams. Harry, Mick, and their newest accomplice/hostage/friend, Sydney (Evalena Marie), must face their paranoia and attempt to discover the truth about their reality. As their minds begin to deteriorate, they must lean on one another to survive and make their escape to Prague.
“…holed up in a fleabag motel, waiting for their getaway plan to move forward.”
Writer-director Kevin James Barry (and writer-actor Evalena Marie) immediately throws audiences into the story when they hear shouting and vernacular that is typically associated with a bank robbery. A discussion about something having gone wrong commences, and audiences are still in the dark and unaware of what exactly took place in the opening moments. This mystery sparks interest in viewers and draws them into Harry and Mick’s twisted story of crime and mystery. Among Them continues with a flood of mysterious visuals that continue to drag audiences down the rabbit hole and forces them to question what is real. The story is beautifully demented and develops at the perfect speed—a speed that is certain not to lose anyone along the way, but, at the same time, does not let those viewers become bored. The script is daunting and compelling and compares to the likes of world-renowned mystery-thrillers such as Shutter Island (2010). There is always something looming over the heads of the viewers (mirroring the characters), and, yet, they are unable to determine what that thing is. Keeping audiences in the dark for so long, but slowly feeding them bits and pieces of this demented story is the perfect way to construct a crime flick, and Barry and Marie hit the nail on the head. They develop a flawless script that plays out as well as anyone could have hoped; the only thing that makes portions of Among Them difficult to stomach is the acting.
"…a flood of mysterious visuals that continue to drag audiences down the rabbit hole and forces them to question what is real."
