Red Dirt opens with lush images of rain-drenched faces and half-naked bodies lying entwined against the gnarled roots of a tree. Slowly, the movie unwinds the story of Griffith (Dan Montgomery), a young man who feels trapped in a small Southern town by the madness of his invalid aunt (Karen Black). His only comfort is his secret affair with his cousin Emily (Aleksa Palladino), but even that begins to lose its meaning. When a stranger (Walton Goggins) seeks to rent a cottage on Griffith's property, they strike up a friendship that offers Griffith the possibility of escape. At first, Red Dirt threatens to drown in the tortured emotions of a Southern gothic novel, but the excellent performances slowly build a rich, affecting web of hope and passion. Palladino, a young beauty with amazingly thick red hair, is particularly striking. --Bret Fetzer
2.
Writer/director Tag Purvis's first feature film is an atmospheric and provocative coming of age story set in rural Mississippi. It stars Dan Montgomery and Aleksa Palladino as Griffith and Emily, two adolescent cousins who care for their handicapped Aunt Summer (Black) and spend their days doing chores, romping in the nude, and unabashedly carrying on a tentative sexual relationship. However, their lives change when a handsome stranger named Lee Todd rents a nearby cottage, provoking unexpected romantic and sexual longings in Griffiths. Tantalized by the prospect of romance and escape from his life, Griffith and Lee begin spending most of their time together. Feeling shunned, Emily turns to Aunt Summer for companionship as each of the characters come to grips with the mundane and oppressive way life is lived in their corner of the world.
3.
Secrets, Deceit, Forbidden Love
When a man rents the family cottage Griffith, a young southerner tied to his family is tantalized with the possibility of escape and homoerotic fulfillment.
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