RIVER
DISCOVERY D: Jamie M. Dagg. Canada/Laos. 88 min. Sep 15, 7:45 pm Bloor Hot Docs Sep 16, 6:45 pm Scotiabank 4. See listings. Rating: NNN Win a pair of passes to the advance screening here.
River doesn’t have the most original premise, but the execution makes it intriguing.
Set in Laos, where an American doctor (Rossif Sutherland) tries to evade the authorities after a scuffle leaves an Australian tourist dead, it exists entirely in the moment, watching its protagonist grapple with each new complication as it arises while he does his best not to think about why he’s ended up on the run.
From moment to moment, it’s quite compelling, with Sutherland totally convincing as a panicked, desperate young man. It’s only in the last act, when the action downshifts into a calmer gear, that the dramatic structure becomes a little too obvious.