Wrath

A man seeks to get even with the person who caused the deaths of his wife and child in a car accident.

Jim (Burke) is devastated by his terrible loss and is angered to learn that Stephen Richard (McClure), the man responsible for his suffering, has been released fom prison due to errors made by the authorities during their investigation. Wanting justice for his departed loved ones, he decides to take matters into his own hands and drives to Richard's household during the night, armed with a handgun. While he sits in his car, he struggles with his emotions, particularly the feeling of wrath, which takes the form of a man (Westerman), who Jim imagines is sitting in the passenger's seat. Wrath attempts to convince Jim to take his revenge, while Jim tries hard to decide what to do.

This short is a revenge thriller that centers around a damaged man's need to find a way out of the emotional pain he is going through. Will killing Richard bring closure to what Jim is going through? Will he do it? Should he do it? Can he do it? These are the dilemmas he talks about and argues over with Wrath.

The film begins with Jim driving and hearing from the radio about Richard's vindication. It then cuts to him sitting in his car outside Richard's home. The main focus is the intense conversation he has with Wrath, which is really his inner thoughts. Wrath believes that Richard should die, while Jim attempts to convince himself otherwise.

There are strong elements of character study here. Burke is terrific in his portrayal of a broken man, whose loss prompts him to develop killer instincts. Westerman's role is the personification of wrath and he plays him as cool and having a bad temper.

There are flashbacks throughout that consist of Jim's memories of his wife and son and by seeing them, the viewer learns about Jim's happy past and gets an idea regarding what he is going through. The music by Thomas Sage is dramatic and tense and assists significantly in creating the right atmosphere.

The main thing in this dark story is the 'an eye for an eye' idea. It is about person who mainly believes that someone who has wronged him must pay, however part of them sees things another way. The plot is intriguing, the dialogue is interesting and the performances are great. This is an achievement that deserves a lot of praise.