The Reckoning (2014) Review!!

Synopsis – After his partner is murdered, a detective must track down two teenage runaways whose video footage contains the identity of the killer.

My Take – This Australian crime-mystery-thriller flick stars the siblings of some well known celebrities; Jonathan LaPaglia (kid brother of Anthony LaPaglia from the Happy Feet movies & Without A Trace) and Luke Hemsworth (big brother to Chris and Liam Hemsworth). Here, LaPaglia plays Robbie Green; a detective investigating the roadside murder of his ex-partner Jason Pearson (Hemsworth). He finds an SD card, at the scene of the crime, that contains video shot by two runaway teens; Rachel (Lawrence) and AJ (Williams).

The teens were making a documentary, on the hit-and-run death of Rachel’s sister, and the video could contain information leading to Pearson’s killer. With the help of Detective Jane Lambert (Bianca), Green investigates the crime and finds some pretty shocking and gruesome imagery, on the video, in the process. The film starts off a bit slow but then picks up pace and certainly has its own set of suspenseful moments. The story has been developed quite nicely as a result the two arcs of characters are molded together very well. With the successful use of found footage and the crime genre, the makers have created a dark yet thrilling take on city crime. The visual elements have been prominently complimented by an excellent soundtrack. Well this is not a found footage film per se, but uses the style to clever use to keep our Detectives on the hunt and guessing, as does the viewer. My only complain would be, well I did guess the twist of the final act, which may or may not be a let down for everyone.

The acting is all pretty decent, I think Hanna Mangan Lawrence and Alex Williams, playing the two runaway troubled teens with their quest for vengeance, really shone in this film. That’s not to say Jonathan LaPaglia and Viva Bianca were bad, they were good as their roles! While Luke Hemsoworth is wasted. On the whole The Reckoning is an intriguing mix of found footage and the police procedural, with a well structured story line with dark twists and turns, gut wrenching performances and crisp cinematography to keep you well engaged!