Sounds complicated? Kudos to Cote for making the somewhat-convoluted storyline easy to follow. He takes his time to flesh out his characters before kicking the plot into high gear and knows his way around emotionally gripping scenes. One such moment involves Lance asking to get his swastika tattoo covered up by a black tattoo artist, who understandably refuses, so he sears it off with a scalding iron. Lance’s brutal first fight against several Aryan brothers, and the tense sequence leading up to it, display absolute directorial assuredness.
“…kudos to Cote for making the somewhat-convoluted storyline easy to follow.”
Cote’s blessed with a fantastic cast. The film’s authentic, lived-in performances go a long way in overcoming some of the schematic plotting – in particular, Van Sprang, who’s all raw nerve as our ambiguous hero, while Ralston sublimely oozes subliminal menace as the charismatic Gregor. Sure, some of the dialogue could have used a little polishing (“All he gave me was bad dreams;” “I swear to God, if you f*****g touch her, I will kill you”), but the actors make the best of it.
Amongst all the doom and gloom, Cote does offer a glimmer of hope towards the finale. Visceral, visually assured, and thematically sound, Tainted functions as a great calling card for its skilled filmmaker. If you’re in the mood for yet another treatise on our penchant for savagery, delve right in.
"…a great calling card for its skilled filmmaker."
