Shelter in Solitude

A great character study, Siobhan really knows her people! The story of two totally different people finding a connection really grabs your attention. Her character is irritating, laughable, relatable, and fun. Knowing that this is an independent film, made in her hometown with her high school friends as extras, makes it even more delicious. As I am from said home town, I enjoyed it more than ever! The movie was touching, funny, sad, and watchable. I never looked at my watch once to see how much longer! Grabs your attention and keeps it. I loved it, and you should see it. Now I need to write more characters to submit this, and these are them.

I enjoyed this tender tragicomedy which showcases veteran actress/comedienne Siobhan Fallon Hogan's many talents. Her hard luck character Val Fagan is a lonesome tavern keeper and former Ole Opry vedette looking for love in all the wrong places whose life is spiraling out of control as the pandemic hits. She is maligned and robbed, but finds purpose and redemption at the height of Covid when she finds herself working as a death row prison guard. Her relationship with her brother, the warden, portrayed by Robert Patrick, is rocky but touching, as they manage to join forces to provide a semblance of compassion, if not justice, to the prisoner, portrayed by Peter Macon on death row.

Siobhan Fallon Hogan has created a wonderful cast of believable characters and woven their stories together into a wrenching plot. None of them are entirely heroic yet, perhaps save for Kevin who is too immature to have character, they are each finally redeemable, though not in any facile way. From Peter Hogan's Chris to Siobhan's Valerie, for all their flaws, each offers a shining moment of simple and beautiful humanity, reminding us that even in the shadows of a darkening world and a desperately cruel situation, women and men are capable of connection and relationship across the most unlikely divides. In addition to Siobhan's own performance, Robert Patrick's Dwayne and Peter Macon's Jackson deserve special mention for revealing a deep and memorable humanity in the midst of very complex lives.

Loved this movie. A peek at life in a deep south small town at the start of the pandemic. The main character, down on her luck, finds a way of making lemonaid out of lemons after taking a job as a death row prison guard. She's open hearted and open minded from the get-go towards the death row inmate she is guarding. She develops a strong connection and a sense of responsibility to alleviate her prison's pain, to try and fix the unfixable for him. At times funny, hopeful, sad, emotional, conflicted, honest. You'll feel it all while getting to know this cast of characters in their hometown. Expect to spend a very enjoyable few hours!

This movie is absolutely fantastic top to bottom. The musical score, acting, story and cast are all great. Peter Hogan was brilliant alongside his mother and the Rob Bank$ and Fat Nick cameo was a nice surprise. It touches on so many different topics we are dealing with today. I also really love how it manages to touch a multitude of different genres. It is funny, dramatic, mysterious, and thrilling. I hope we continue to see movies coming from this production company. I'll be watching every single one!!!

10/10 would recommend for and film enthusiast and anyone looking for a great movie to watch.