Kate Hugo: Murder After Mayhem

Post-apocalyptic crime drama Kate Hugo: Murder After Mayhem is a small-town USA whodunnit. Writer and star Elizabeth von Isser plays the titular Kate Hugo, a high-level investigator brought in to solve a murder in a bank. As she works with the sheriff (John Marrs) to interview the gaggle of locals who could have committed the crime, she unearths a sack full of secrets.

Kate Hugo: Murder After Mayhem opens with a startling natural disaster which seems to threaten the world as we know. Fast forward five years, and other than the lack of computers and the internet, life looks pretty similar. There are moments in the film where the setting plays a part, such as Kate’s backstory and the fact that characters have fallen into a quasi-Western, but this story really could have played out in a plethora of time periods, and has done.

The central character is intriguing and has a firm approach to her detective work. The chemistry von Isser establishes with Marrs cements the film and makes for a jovial journey for the audience. That being said, the film lacks punch, particularly in the early stages of the story where pacing is an issue. The stakes are not really high enough to elevate this into feature film territory; it feels more televisual.

There is a fun array of supporting characters, such as Samson (Sean Berube), who is the local loan shark whose chagrin at the constantly revisiting cops is chucklesome, and Daphne (Aubyn Philabaum), a psychic whose visions insert a slightly paranormal element into the plot. Some of the performances veer slightly into melodrama, but for the most part the ensemble work well to create a believable, if slightly dull, community. And the heightened performances are typical of the genre. 

From a filmmaking angle, director Rich Goldstein makes some clever choices. The landscape is brilliantly utilised, with some excellent aerial shots of Arizona. The camerawork is strong, as is the score, to create an overall professional atmosphere which elevates the movie above the average indie production.

A solid crime drama with a strong cast and filmmaking, Kate Hugo: Murder After Mayhem promises more than it delivers. The post-apocalyptic setting never gets fully utilised in the story, and the “mayhem” is light and familiar. Fans of Murder She Wrote and Poirot will be in their element, and hopefully the filmmakers can build on this to create a future piece that contributes something more original to the genre.