Images from Steve Balderson’s “Firecracker,” featuring the acting debut of Tomahawk, Fantomas and Mr. Bungle frontman Mike Patton are now online.
FIRECRACKER is a bold and shocking true-to-life tale of murder in small town Kansas. Set against the stark beauty of Middle America, this astonishing story of abuse, suffering and denial reveals dreams of escape. The inevitable confrontation unleashes the truth concealed behind the pleasant façade of small-town U.S.A.
Meek, reclusive and talented Jimmy is emotionally imprisoned by his abusive, alcoholic older brother David – and fanatically religious mother Eleanor. With evil lurking in the shadows, the setting sun gives way to the blue of evening and Jimmy finds escape in the neon glow of a traveling sideshow carnival. Unlike its drab, depressing daytime reality, the carnival becomes a nightly glittering solitaire on the prairie, beckoning all around to its illusions and make-believe. With a guise of red satin and the lure of a heavenly voice, Sandra, billed as an “oddity of nature,” is the carnival’s premier attraction. Yearning for a way out, Jimmy befriends Sandra, unaware that her imprisonment and degradation, at the hands of Frank, the carnival owner, mirror his own. Sandra, taken by his innocence, finds her own inner strength and suppressed dreams. When David disappears, the metaphorical white-picket fences collapse, leaving raw emotions exposed to the spark of truth.
Throughout it all Police Chief Ed searches for truth, uncovering bits of evidence suggesting deceit, abuse, murder and cover-up. As her investigation leads her closer to the truth, the lives of those involved become lit fuses – until they explode, one-by-one, in a dramatic and harrowing conclusion.
“Firecracker” is currently in production.
Check out the cast images at the official “Firecracker” website.
