There’s an opioid problem in America. Years ago, any slight pain you felt won you an OxyContin prescription. Take enough for a long time, and you’re addicted. Take the wrong dosage, and you’re dead. Now head to the streets of Los Angeles or San Francisco and you can’t walk a block without seeing that the problem is getting worse.
Anthony Jerjen’s thriller Inherit The Viper drops us in the center of a small Appalachian town with a severe opioid problem. The story centers on the Conley family and in a not-so-distant future. Orphaned by their father, the three siblings have turned to drug dealing for financial support. The illegal business is the oldest son Kip’s (Josh Harnett) idea, and now that girlfriend Eva (Valorie Curry) is pregnant, he starts to rethink his criminal occupation.
“Orphaned by their father, the three siblings have turned to drug dealing for financial support.”
Then there’s his younger sister Josie (Margarita Levieva), whose bad drugs, like defective, often results in dead customers. Then there’s older teen Boots (Owen Teague), who, after a considerable windfall, bought himself a hot-looking speedster and wants in on the family business. All this time, Kip has been shielding Boots from the illegal activity, but Boots insists on getting in.
Like a good movie, things get worse for the Conleys. Boots steals the family drug stash and gets involved in a drug deal gone wrong with some unscrupulous buyers. Fortunately, Kip is watching from a distance and, with his sniper skills, kills the buyers before they can kill Boots. Officer Kyle (Dash Mihok) is sent to investigate the murdered buyers, which brings him to Josie, who is part of his AA group. He may also have a crush on her.
Slowly, the activities of the family become more and more public. The bar that Josie often frequents to sell drugs, the owner (Bruce Dern) is frustrated that dead bodies keep piling up in his restrooms. Then Kip has problems at his regular job as a co-worker’s wife was allegedly killed from Josie’s bad drugs. The Conleys as a family eventually spin out of control past the point of no return.
"…bought himself a hot-looking speedster and wants in on the family business."
