Fresh Kills offers up a new and original story that operates within the familiar crime genre, although I would not categorize this as a "mob movie" per se. It is the director's first filmmaking effort and it is an enjoyable movie with a few powerful moments throughout.
Technically speaking, I found some of the shaky camerawork to be too amateurish and the dialogue was hard to hear at times, which was followed by very loud music overdubs and I feel that some of these dynamics issues could have been handled by a better audio engineer. The content of the film was compelling though I felt that the backstory did not provide enough of a motivation for the rest of the plot, and it felt like things were just happening which were ultimately unrelated to each other.
The film basically tells the story of two young girls who grow up in a family environment that is implied to be unsafe, perhaps criminal in nature, and it follows their lives as they learn the value in defending themselves and each other from bullies in the community.
Without spoiling anything, the girls eventually find themselves in a very bad situation and are forced to make decisions in the heat of the moment. I think the director's main motivation to make the film was to raise the question of: "who protects the women in a patriarchal family when the patriarch is the one they need protection from?" Although, as the film highlights this directly, there is no clear answer to the question, and the audience is left with the uneasy realization that it is up to each individual to protect themselves against corruption and evil in this dog-eat-dog world. Contrary to mob mentality, I believe that the big takeaway for the protagonist in this film is that she has to step up and fight for herself, and to break free from the abusive restraints of family which can, at times, be the very thing which is holding you back from your ideal life.
The protagonist of this film knows something is not right at home, and the audience witnesses her lifelong battle to break free and go her own way-although it comes at a heavy price.
The strength of this film is its originality, its ethos and its stellar soundtrack. If the film had been produced a bit better, perhaps it would have been the indie gem that I was expecting, but I am hopeful that this is just the beginning of Jennifer Esposito's filmmaking career and that we will be blessed with more of her movies in the future.
