I have to be honest. As Beau Ideal landed in my e-mail in anticipation of a review, I found myself looking at the outside-the-box movie poster and the nearly two-hour running time and thinking to myself "Can't I find a 90-minute flick?"

Hey, I'm human. 

And, if we're being honest here, very few indie dramatic thrillers live up to the lofty ambitions that are obvious in this thriller and chiller. 

Beau Ideal is that rare exception.

So, yeah. I mean, sure. I absolutely set aside that initial hesitation and gave myself to Beau Ideal. I'm so glad I did. 

Co-directed by Edd Blott and Patrick D. Green, Green's also the screenwriter here, Beau Ideal had its world premiere at Sedona International Film Festival and has already picked up awards at Oneota Film Festival (Best Narrative Feature) and Covellite International Film Festival (Best Screenplay). It's a character-driven drama with not so subtle elements of being a thriller. Jake (Patrick D. Green) and Rebecca (Michèle Tredger) are city folks relocating to a small tip o' the West Coast in search of something a little quieter, a little calmer, and a little more picturesque. Things seem alright, but not. Green's Jake seems likable enough. At first glance, he's easily more likable than his new neighbor, Dave (Eric Martin Reid), whose entire aura projects sulking menace. It doesn't help that Jake's initial encounter with Dave's son, Cole (Rylan Andrews), is more than a little worrisome. 

It's not too long before we realize that Jake himself has his own baggage - a dying mother, an estranged relationship with his abusive father, marital questions and conflicts and more.  

The conflicts grow between Dave and Jake, Jake's calling of Child Protective Services not exactly helping matters. 

Beau Ideal is undeniably one of the best indie adult drama/thrillers I've seen this year, a lovely and powerful tapestry of Green's precise and wise storytelling with an ensemble cast that absolutely brings that storytelling to life. From the film's opening moments with Alejandro Villanueva Medina's original score arising out of the film's burgeoning atmosphere, I found myself drawn in and Beau Ideal never let me go. Blott's lensing for the film is observationally haunting, a powerful mixture of intimate and universal all rolled into one. 

Green is absolutely captivating here as Jake, whose layers are best left unspoken here yet smartly scripted and revealed with precision by Green. However, don't sleep on Eric Martin Reid's terrific turn as the complicated Dave. I'll also give some major kudos to young Rylan Andrews as Cole. Andrews isn't really here a whole lot, but he's essential to everything that unfolds and he's absolutely spot-on. Michèle Tredger and Kelly Godell, the latter as Dave's wife Michelle, round out the core ensemble quite nicely. 

Beau Ideal continues on the indie fest circuit, and one can only hope that one of our better boutique indie distributors will be smart enough to pick up this film and give it the love that it deserves. In the right hands, Beau Ideal should easily find a wider audience for one of the year's smarter adult indie dramas. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic