Variety
The impulse to make sense of tragedy has given rise to any number of films — from Kim A. Snyder’s “Newtown” and Tim Sutton’s “Dark Night” to the forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster “Patriots Day” — all made in response to recent episodes of mass violence in America. For the most part, the intent of such a near-immediate reckoning is to be raw and immediate rather than definitive. But “Tower,” a formally and thematically ambitious documentary that revisits the 1966 sniper shootings at the U. of Texas at Austin, powerfully channels the terror and confusion of that terrible August day while also achieving the somber weight and authority that can only come with time and distance.
Variety
Crafting a convincing tale of survival against steep odds in a harsh, unforgiving landscape would seem to be out of the reach of most low-budget independent filmmakers. Fortunately for twin-brother directors Alex and Andrew Smith, they’re able to rely on a key visual effect that won’t show up on any ledger sheet: the mountains around Montana’s Paradise Valley. Gorgeously shot in Big Sky Country, and stripped down to its most elemental components, “Walking Out” strands father-and-son hunters played by Matt Bomer and Josh Wiggins in the wilderness after an accident, and its unabashedly folky, less-is-more approach proves quietly moving.
Variety
If you can imagine a multi-movie-mashup of boardroom suspenser, “Die Hard” redux and zombie apocalypse — well, too bad, director Joe Lynch and scripter Matias Caruso have already beat you to the punch. “Mayhem,” their rousingly gonzo thriller about the violent commingling of infectious disease and corporate malfeasance, is a smartly constructed and sardonically funny indie with attitude that somehow manages the tricky feat of being exuberantly over the top even as it remains consistently on target.
The Hollywood Reporter
Actor Michael Shannon serves as one of the executive producers of this timely drama centering on the romance between a Pakistani and a Mexican-American woman.
