Genre is typically the first way we describe a film and usually it’s the most effective. But some movies, whether they blend genres or veer away from traditional paradigms, are more effectively described by how they feel. The Dirty South falls into this camp. Sure it’s an action, crime, drama, thriller. But a better way to describe it, or rather what it wants to be described as, is a vibes movie – one that relies on its setting and characters, more than any individual plot point or character arc, to suck you in. But, in veering away from the traditional narrative archetype, novice director Matthew Yerby fails to captivate the audience. Instead, unfulfilling plot points and incomplete characters define the mostly boring and sometimes confusingly bad movie.
Deeply flawed characters and morally ambiguous situations in The Dirty South contrast from the traditional movie model in which we have a clear hero to root for and villain to root against. Often, complex characters can enrich a film by challenging the audience to think outside of the “good guy” vs. “bad guy” dichotomy. But here, none get developed enough to understand them. Sue Parker (played by Willa Holland) is the closest we have to a protagonist, playing the kid forced to grow up fast. After her mother left, Sue’s father fell apart, leaving her to take care of the family’s bar and her kid brother. The film begins when she discovers her father is $30k behind in mortgage payments; if they don’t come up with the money in 72 hours, their bar will be sold to Jeb Roy (Dermot Mulroney), the gruff, no-nonsense businessman of the town. In dire circumstances, Sue teams up with a drifter (Shane West) to steal the money from locals.
We spend a lot of time with these characters as the film’s plot slowly chugs along. To the credit of Holland, Sue has the most charisma of anyone in the film. That said, she’s not easy to root for since she’s really just stealing money from ordinary people. Her counterpart, Dion, seems at points to be the most intriguing – in a rare flash of action, he whips out some badass karate moves to protect Sue; but the buck stops there and we never see these skills again or learn how he acquired them. All we know is that Dion can clear $3k in an hour by stealing wallets in nearly empty bars – but more on details like this later. Finally, we get to Jeb Roy. It’s typically a good sign to see a familiar face in a film – someone to ground the movie and prove there is some reason a big name joined the project. However, Mulroney’s character is the most confusing and drives a few of the absurd actions in the film, which take it from dull to groan-worthy.
Early on, we learn of Roy’s intention to take over the bar and it seems like a business decision. When we later find out that Sue’s father was once in a relationship with Roy’s wife, it appears that Roy is taking it over out of spite – a pretty reasonable conclusion. But in the third act, Roy reveals his actual motivation – he is purchasing the bar to force Sue out of town, preventing the possibility of her dating his son, even though the two haven’t been in contact in years. It’s a real leap in logic for a plot point that was already established. Peculiar details like this (and the aforementioned large amounts of cash Sue and Dion are somehow able to clear from empty bars) make you scratch your head in confusion. As this reveal (I wouldn’t call it a twist) leads into the climax, the film goes from bad to worse during a fight scene between Roy and his son. And just as the action picks up, there is a jarring halt and the film fast forwards to one month later! It’s such a strange decision given the momentum of the story, that the obvious conclusion is the production just ran out of money. But this time-jump wasn’t even the most jarring part of the movie – the music deserves that accolade.
Yerby, a native Louisianan, tried to stay authentic to his home state. The film was shot in Louisiana and Yerby based the setting on a specific town he knew. He also chose to have a friend of his create an original soundtrack meant to fit the setting. Unfortunately, it very much did not. Rather than embedding you into the plot, it harshly contrasts with the action and often takes you out of the movie. Sometimes it feels like you’re watching a Ford commercial during Sunday Night Football and other times the unknown, upbeat R&B country-rock song gives the feel of a network beat-cop show. For a film that aims to be dark and mysterious, it picked a soundtrack that confusingly contrasts those themes. These failures at portraying an authentic Louisiana result in a feeling of an ambiguous “south” instead of backcountry Louisiana specifically.
Yerby ultimately failed in his attempt at worldbuilding on both fronts. Without backstories for our characters, the film doesn’t offer anyone to latch onto. And by failing to establish a rich setting, the film doesn’t create an environment that can captivate an audience. Add in a few nonsensical details in plot and a weirdly contrasting soundtrack and the movie goes from dull to downright bad.
Photo courtesy of Cineverse
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