Feral State (2020) Poster

(2020)

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5/10
Looked promising
Top_Dawg_Critic20 June 2021
It's a fairly decent directorial debut for newb writer and producer Jon Carlo. Had the story been less convoluted and had more continuity, this could have been a cult classic. At the end you're left shaking your head, and wanting closure.

The 84 min runtime was decent, but the pacing needed improvement, especially due to the "all over the place writing".

The score was decent for a b-film, and the cinematography on point. Casting was good, although I found Ronnie Gene Blevins a little annoying and unconvincing in his role, as was AnnaLynne McCord. Perhaps it was from the inexperience of Carlo directing his cast properly. However, first-time actress Sif Saga as Lexi was outstanding - a real natural I'd say her performance was the best of them all.

Overall an ok one-time watch b-film. It's a 5/10 from me.
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6/10
Raw, nasty and good
alex-mott18 July 2021
The 0 - 3 reviews seem to be written by people who think that every film must include automatic gunfire, CGI explosions or a car chase. Instead of this, Feral State shows what you can do by investing in the script, characters and camerawork: create intrigue and tension - and any film that keeps you watching until the end deserves 5/10 at least. All of the acting seemed fine to me and Ronnie Gene Blevins convincingly holds the whole thing together as the father figure of not just a gang, but also a community. The idea of bumping off miscreants and burying them in the woods (or just leaving them for the crocs) isn't without its appeal either.

Feral State knows it was never designed to be a Hollywood blockbuster and, just like the similar Deathwell, sensibly snips itself off around the 1h 20min mark - just before you've had enough but when you're curious to know more.
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4/10
Cult, what is it good for?
Stanlee10713 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Decent film about a group of misfit taken in by a cult figure. It tries to be gritty and intriguing. The protagonist's struggles are shown but I was expecting more than it was delivered...
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5/10
Decent
daxtea26 July 2021
It was a decent movie. I like the grit. Ronnie Blevin was the highlight.
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2/10
boring
shaylc19851 July 2021
This is a boring movie for sure. The best thing about it is AnnaLynne McCord.
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4/10
Watch it, but don't get your hopes up!
apcbrass13 July 2021
I've been seeing signs around the county for this movie and I had to know why. Apparently it was shot here in Citrus County, which is kinda cool I guess. Decided to give it a shot. It felt so funny to me to see almost everything they showed in the movie because I've seen it all my life, like the Roller Barn. If only I'd carved my name into that table they sat at 20 years ago, now that would have been great. The movie had a lot of potential. It wasn't absolutely terrible, but they kept changing scenes so fast before you could get a feel for what was actually going on. I don't think any of the actors were bad at acting, I just feel like it would have made more sense if they slowed down and took their time making it, maybe added in more details. Give it a try and you may understand where I'm coming from. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. They probably would have done better making it a series rather than a movie, but once again they'd need to give more details.
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6/10
Eternity in Hell is a long time
nogodnomasters12 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
If you guessed Florida just from the title, give yourself two bonus points. Mack Monroe (Ronnie Gene Blevins) appears to be inspired by Fagin as he leads a group of orphan teens on a crime and vigilante spree. He has disdain for the government, authority, and drug dealers although he has no problem killing and doing their drugs. Mack and his gang are in trouble with the law and also the crime boss whose labs he has been taking out. An outside orphan girl join the group under odd circumstances. Kody (Baldur Thor) is the most passive in the group and disapproves of a lot of Mack's actions.

I thought the characters were interesting even if the plot is about a C-.

Guide: F-word. Sex? No nudity.
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1/10
Acting and storyline was somewhat lo budget
shorty08256 July 2021
Acting not great, and some parts of this movie made no sense.

Should have been better thought out.
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7/10
if you like
ops-5253529 May 2021
Gritty films about the desparity among the poor and homeless and orfant social classes, and love to see an indespicable clanleader that rules with love and terror his tribe of young and hopelessly lost sole that will trot the trailway to hell for eternity, then this is a film for you.

I like such films, even though i admire movieart thats more drugrelated but with the same kinda social personalities, a will recommend a look at this. The grumpy old man give a plus for the score and the unsteady camhandling.
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4/10
Confused Plot Develops in a Cliched Manner
jdowney-57-37115731 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is a low budget movie that works the grit in an attempt to seem indie and on-point. But it tries too hard at that and comes across as hackneyed.

Nothing really new here. A charismatic Father Figure, who is at his core a sociopath, has built a bunch of troubled low life teenagers into his make shift family and criminal gang. Ronnie Blevins is not boring to watch, his Mack Monroe character has the latent rage, and the intelligence , but he is not overly charismatic. We get a decent performance from Sif Saga, as a jaded trick turning hottie, and Baldar Thor as clinging-to-decency Kody. They both seem to fit their characters. The other gang members all suffer from a lack of screen time, character development and presence.

Annalynne McCord is also underutilized as the police detective hunting for the gang. There is a slightly more than implied lesbian relationship between Detective Ellis and Lexi, that seem completely gratuitous, and it is the first of a number of plot points that just fizzle out into nothing.

And that is the problem with this movie. The Gang seems to be bent on harming a major drug dealer's operation...but no real explanation as to why, or how Mack wouldn't get that it would bring a Mafia down on his head looking for revenge. ...Oh and they catch him and for some reason let him go. And when a Gang member is killed, they walk up to the crime scene, thus identifying themselves to the Police for no reason. Mack seems smart, but then he does pointless things a lot. The kids for the most part have some explanation for their actions.

For a while it looked like Veronica Burgess's Lisa character wanted revenge, but then I guess she was satisfied with what she got.

In the End, we see the sign. Eternity In Hell lasts a Long Time, and our lost characters walk off into that Eternity. Ultimately we learned nothing.

All in all, I can say this movie held my attention and is not really boring. It has just been done better in the past, and the weakness is more in the writing of the story than anything else. Bleak and depressing yes, intelligent and insightful...not really.
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10/10
I fully expected this to be bad
symbiophoto14 March 2022
My husband and I had no hope for this movie as 1- it was shot in Citrus County and having lived here for 37 yrs and knowing what it's like and the type of people here, we just expected nothing but some cool sights for nostalgic reasons. And 2- Anyone making a good, or decent movie wouldn't be shooting here. But, this was a fantastic movie, well done and decent acting. Completely unexpected. My husband is a major snob when it comes to what seems to be low budget movies and he loved this. I absolutely LOVED seeing all the places shown. Especially Big Blue, that place was such a staple in my childhood and early teens, I grew up out there and lived in Arrowhead for 18 yrs. Had my 6th birthday party at the Roller Barn! Grew up eating at Chicken King, in fact my old fashioned grandfather tipped a waitress there with a penny tails up once she was so bad! ( Early 90s) And let's not leave out Scott Addams butthurt "Eternity in hell" billboard! All in all great movie! Even met Nick Tamposi the other night and talked to him about how much I loved the movie and places featured, not even realizing it was him, at the liquor store ( featured in the movie) Seeing my liquor store guy Beamer in the movie was the cherry on top! It's a must see for anyone living in Citrus County!
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1/10
Missed the mark
Batree16 September 2021
This movie missed the mark on plot, acting and directing. Open for something much better but it fell short.
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3/10
Stolen line
flk1940-857-71665514 February 2024
I was all excited to see this, and was watching and watching. She is beautiful, of course . She's a great actress . Then they stole that thing about running down the hill . The story from colors that Robert Duvall says to Sean Penn . That really really did not sit well with me completely stolen, it's too bad it could've been a great movie and it it's a drag when people get lazy like . It looks nice and it could've really been something . But that really set a tone. I feel bad for all the people at work on a movie like this that had potential in an end up going nowhere. Oh well, what can you do?
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1/10
cringe and terrible acting
evaaajuliaa17 September 2022
This movie was complete trash. Literally the beginning made absolutely no sense, honestly the whole movie did not make any sense. I grew up where this was filmed and it was being way over hyped for no reason but little high schoolers that I went to school with wanted to be in it and it was so cringe. There was no character development, no plot, bad acting and straight up embarrassing. It was just a rich family with money that wanted to make a movie. The family irl is really stuck up. Shout to jas the worst acting out of all of them and she was fr trying so hard. Me and my cousin just watched it to make fun of it. There was also a random r*pe scene in there that came out of nowhere, was not necessary to add and was really triggering and just uncomfortable.
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10/10
Spot on interpretation of Central Florida
stevewoodworthjr29 August 2021
I lived in Inverness for a little while. This is actually how life was and continues to be there. Jungle camp road , Turner Fish Camp and Potts Preserve!
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8/10
Entertaining
dianacahnd22 June 2021
This was my type of movie. Plot was great with tons of drama and grit. Ronnie Gene Blevin playing the Mack character really made this come alive. One of my fav films of 2021. Good job and congrats to everybody involved in this film.
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9/10
Nice thriller
shanksfilmmaker17 June 2021
Great movie.. Jon Carlo did his thing! A well done thriller, I highly recommend this.
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10/10
Awesome Movie!!!
fm-307001 June 2021
Absolutely loved this movie! Was a totally unexpected hit!! Amazing acting, the shots were gorgeous. Could be a mew cult classic.
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8/10
Entertaining
melaineburks18 June 2021
Just seen it on Amazon Prime. Gritty and entertaining for sure. Yes it's low budget but they made it work. Support indie films like this and rent it.
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9/10
Wow! So gooooooooood!
talintoray1 June 2021
I'm from central Florida and this movie really nailed the vibe and feel of being down in the swamps. Amazing story and great twist! Go see this movie!!!
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10/10
Go See this Movie
georgedante-495841 June 2021
Loved so many things about this dark swampy thriller. I literally could smell the sweat and humidity in the movie. Great characters, really cool setting. Finally a covid movie!
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10/10
Loved this
ralphsndrews18 June 2021
Anna Lynn McCord is so beautiful and talented. Really well produced and shot with an exciting storyline. Giving this a 10.. one of my favorite films i've seen so far this year.
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