First Time Fest: ‘Junction’ Review

If there ever was a better reason not to do meth other than Breaking Bad, it would be Junction. Not only are you dealing with off the wall meth addicts and their emotions, but you’re subconsciously forced to endure the pain the characters are going through and that’s when you realized just how messed up things are.

Junction is written and directed by Tony Glazer and stars Harris Doran, Summer Crockett Moore, Neal Bledsoe, Anthony Rapp, Bryan Deehring and more. As part of the competition films at the First Time Fest, the film was in the running for a number of awards, and Neal Bledsoe won the Outstanding Achievement in Acting award “for the ferocity of the performance, and playing an unsympathetic character who becomes more and more out of control in a believable way.”

The film follows a group of meth addicts who are in extremely bad shape and are in dire need of some more meth (since the withdrawal really isn’t working for them). Penniless, they go to their druggie, who promises to give them their lifeline as long as they bring him a TV for his mother’s birthday.

Wait, rewind. They’re penniless, and they have to get a television to get their meth? Let’s go robbing houses! The addicts (comprised of Moore, Doran, Bledsoe and Tom Pelphrey) decide to target the house of a family that has just moved in and everything goes wrong when they find something they’re not supposed.

I really enjoyed the film; I found it to be original and rather entertaining. The fact that the addicts switch on and off from being protagonists to antagonists to anything in between, flowing smoothly throughout the film as the audience was introduced to the next situation the characters found themselves in.

I especially loved the use of the meth as the moving plot of the film. While Breaking Bad is huge, meth is an unexplored but highly interesting topic that deserves some spotlight–not only because it is an original and a whole new matter in itself, but it also is serving a purpose to show the side effects of meth use.

However, there were a few flaws I had to pick out. (Warning, there might be spoilers ahead). All my years of watching The Usual Suspects and Fight Club and any movie like that have always led me to never be trustworthy of a movie’s plot or its characters. Ok, maybe it’s not technically considered a spoiler, but still, you kind of know what’s going to happen. Well, when watching the movie, there were a few parts that caught my eye. It’s not the same scenario like when you watch The Usual Suspects or Fight Club and then you realize it afterwards; it’s during the movie where the action happens, and you wonder why.

I even got the chance to speak with Bryan Deehring, and I asked him what’s next. He replied, “I’m in love with Veep, and I hope Armando Ianucci reads this and will write me a role.”

All joking aside, the film was truly engaging. There are many variables in the film that all came together to make it a thrilling experience. While most thrill-seekers would want some more action in there, I personally believed the film came together to show a compelling story that is worth watching.