Copper Bill is a low budget indie thriller that makes the most of its low budget. The stars here are Hallum and Rhodes. Hallum is particularly compelling as the conflicted gambler, who wants to appear tough and willing to use violence, but deep down has no taste for it. If you’ve ever seen Dustin Rhodes on WWE or AEW, you know he’s exceptionally good at creating characters. He is the heavy in Copper Bill and brings dimension to Mitchell and is more than just a wrestler cast only for his fanbase.
As the mute Lily, Katy Harris is also good. Don’t think that not talking is easy. Her job is to react to the threats and at the same time, be cunning, without giving anything away.
“…brings dimension to Mitchell and is more than just a wrestler cast only for his fanbase.”
Storywise, Copper Bill plays out like a video game, where you move down the path having to solve some problem or puzzle before advancing. The events of A don’t necessarily lead to B. The boys invade the home. They take Lily captive. They “interrogate” her. Someone shows up. Someone else shows up. And so on, until the end. It’s still a fun movie to watch, but events from the start don’t always have strong ties with the previous scene or the subsequent one.
Speaking of the end, it’s a good one with a twist, but again, the early events don’t necessarily build to this finish. In other words, you could watch it again and still see very few clues tipping off the final reveal. I say this because sometimes it’s fun for the audience to play along with the mystery. We like puzzles to solve and if it’s a good one, we’ll tell our friends to play along as well. That said, the action and performances are good enough to get you there on their own.
"…we like puzzles to solve..."
