Richard Dutcher’s Brigham City is a rare find in the recent onslaught of murky religion-based thrillers and Satanic conspiracies--a modern crime thriller with a powerful and passionate spiritual message. In some ways it plays like a contemporary Western, with Dutcher as the upright county sheriff and local church bishop of a rural Utah town terrorized by a serial killer. Like the marshal of a peaceful frontier community, he first tries to shield his town from the horror, then pulls the good churchgoing citizens into a veritable posse. His cinematic skills may be a bit clumsy and his modern take on frontier justice naïve, but his heart is in the right place. He creates a portrait of family values, community ties, and neighborly caring with an honest, unaffected forthrightness. Ultimately, fear and suspicion is the real snake in Eden. --Sean Axmaker
2.
Mormon filmmaker Richard Dutcher's (GOD'S ARMY) variation on the small-town murder-mystery is a somber, bleak drama that deftly balances hopelessness and optimism to tell a deeply moving tale. Set in the innocent Mormon town of Brigham, Utah, the story focuses on Wes Clayton (Dutcher), a weary widower who is both the town's sheriff and religious leader. When Wes and his young deputy, Terry Woodruff (Matthew A. Brown), discover the mutilated body of a woman from out of town, Wes tries to keep the news under wraps. But when another body is discovered just days later, word gets out, throwing the previously quiet town into a state of disorder. Working together with retired deputy Stu (Wilford Brimley), secretary Peg (Carrie Morgan), and FBI agent Meredith (Tavya Patch), Wes searches for clues that will put an end to the incomprehensible nightmare. When the puzzle is eventually solved, Wes is forced to confront an evil he never thought would visit his town.
Dutcher's second feature-length film confronts the issue of lost innocence versus gained wisdom in a strikingly honest and original way. What makes BRIGHAM CITY an even greater achievement is Dutcher's ability to use his potentially limiting trappings (religion, genre) to his advantage, resulting in a film that is heartbreakingly universal in soul and spirit.
3.
Your Neighbor is a Serial Killer. Welcome to your Worst Nightmare.
Brigham City is the terrifying tale of a small town held hostage by an unknown serial killer. As the people of Brigham lock their doors an windows, paralyzed by fear, they can only wait for news of the next victim. This fiercely fascinating murder mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat until the shocking, final twist!
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