EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

kosmasp Hidden as I almost didn't find it or as the title that it played in Germany (at the Fantasy Film Festival) last year. I think (The) Hidden is the better title, more accurate to this movie. It's the first feature length movie from director Brett W. Wagner and as such it's not that bad.At least the camera and the story are good. The actors do their best, but still it won't get you as excited as you could be. Maybe his sophomore effort will be a bit better and he will have a better script to work with. The movie is a little bit to predictable then, for you to enjoy it more ...

VelvetLane First-time director/screenwriter Brett Wagner pulls some compelling performances from a top-notch cast, in a film that is both suspenseful and nuanced.Wagner uses observant, quirky, but not self-consciously "indie" touches to create complex characters, where ciphers might have sufficed. These folks inhabit a morally ambiguous universe where the mind-bending effects of chronic guilt and corrosive karma cause them to act in unsavory--but deeply human--ways. The spare, mostly-acoustic soundtrack supports the soulful mood throughout.This film was one of the stand-outs of a recent Gen Art Festival in NYC.

kdrury Saw this at the Cleveland Film Festival. The film looks lush, with excellent photography by Chad Davidson. Director/writer Brett Wagner assembled a talented cast and used a sure hand to tell his story. The setting, rural Ohio, is interesting and unusual and the plot kept me guessing.