Crave (film)
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''Crave'' (also known under the working titles of ''Shatterbrain'' and ''Two Wolves'') is a 2012 American drama thriller film directed by Charles de Lauzirika. The film stars
Josh Lawson Josh Lawson is an Australian actor best known for his role as Doug Guggenheim in '' House of Lies'', Tate in '' Superstore'' and as Kano in the 2021 film ''Mortal Kombat''. Early life Lawson grew up in Brisbane, and attended St Joseph's Coll ...
as a man who retreats into a fantasy world that comes with deadly consequences. ''Crave'' had its world premiere on July 24, 2012 at the
Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival, also known as Fantasia Fest or simply Fantasia, is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on fantasy, horror, sci-fi and cult genre films. Regular ...
and had a wider theatrical and
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release on December 6, 2013.


Synopsis

Aiden (
Josh Lawson Josh Lawson is an Australian actor best known for his role as Doug Guggenheim in '' House of Lies'', Tate in '' Superstore'' and as Kano in the 2021 film ''Mortal Kombat''. Early life Lawson grew up in Brisbane, and attended St Joseph's Coll ...
) is an underpaid and lonely
freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
crime scene photographer in Detroit who copes with the world around him by imagining himself as a hero who saves the day. His world is turned upside down when he meets Virginia ( Emma Lung), who lives a few doors down in the same apartment building and has recently left a turbulent relationship and breathes new life into Aiden's daily routine and gives him a new sense of confidence. This gives him the courage to make his daydreams into a reality, which comes with some negative repercussions as Aiden's sense of justice might be considered warped. He gets robbed at gunpoint in a convenience store and after the assailant escapes and discards his gun, Aiden finds and keeps it. He begins a sexual relationship with Virginia and very quickly becomes obsessed with her. As the hired photographer at the 16th birthday party of the daughter of a wealthy but obnoxious businessman, Barry Endicott, Aiden spots him flirting and attempting to seduce some of the teenage guests. Aiden spies on and follows Endicott to a motel in
Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...
where he photographs him meeting for a sexual affair with one of his daughter's underage friends and Aiden later blackmails him. Aiden's desires to be a hero and fantasies about killing people who annoy him start to concern him and he confides in his friend, Police supervisor Pete (
Ron Perlman Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...
) who reassures him that everybody has these thoughts but doesn't follow through with them. While on a date with Virginia at a theatrical play performed by some of her friends, Aiden's thoughts become reality when he accidentally heckles them, embarrassing and angering Virginia who blocks him on social media and refuses to speak to him. Using the money he got from blackmailing Endicott, Aiden buys a gift for her but she rebuffs him, telling him that she feels uncomfortable around him and she needs space. He follows her to an industrial area where, to his disappointment, he finds that she has rekindled her relationship with her boyfriend Ravi (
Edward Furlong Edward Walter Furlong (born August 2, 1977) is an American actor and former teen idol. He won Saturn and MTV Movie Awards for his breakthrough performance at age 13 as John Connor in James Cameron's 1991 science fiction action film '' Terminato ...
). Aiden confronts Ravi and accidentally kills him but makes it look as though a homeless junkie killed him in a bad drug deal. A heartbroken Virginia discovers the crime scene and attends his funeral. Later on, Aiden and Virginia meet in the elevator of their building where he attempts to console her. After, in his apartment, he gets a knock at his door, presumably from Virginia.


Cast

*
Josh Lawson Josh Lawson is an Australian actor best known for his role as Doug Guggenheim in '' House of Lies'', Tate in '' Superstore'' and as Kano in the 2021 film ''Mortal Kombat''. Early life Lawson grew up in Brisbane, and attended St Joseph's Coll ...
as Aiden * Emma Lung as Virginia *
Ron Perlman Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...
as Pete *
Edward Furlong Edward Walter Furlong (born August 2, 1977) is an American actor and former teen idol. He won Saturn and MTV Movie Awards for his breakthrough performance at age 13 as John Connor in James Cameron's 1991 science fiction action film '' Terminato ...
as Ravi * Christopher Stapleton as Barry * Jordan Trovillion as Young Emily * Richard Speight Jr. as Rupert


Production

Lauzirika came up with the idea for ''Crave'' while working on an unrelated film, an adaptation of Phillip K Dick's '' I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon''. Dick's daughter, Isa Dick Hackett, encouraged Lauzirika to make a smaller film before beginning the larger project and Lauzirika's former neighbor Robert Lawton pitched him the premise of ''Crave''. The idea was that the film would be "
Travis Bickle Travis Bickle is the antihero protagonist of the 1976 film ''Taxi Driver'' directed by Martin Scorsese. The character was created by the film's screenwriter Paul Schrader. He is portrayed by Robert De Niro, who received an Oscar nomination for h ...
meets
Walter Mitty Walter Jackson Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's short story " The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in ''The New Yorker'' on March 18, 1939, and in book form in '' My World—and Welcome to It'' in 1942. Thurber loo ...
" and Lauzirika and Lawton worked on developing the film's script and main character for two months, during which point each man wrote two drafts of the script. Lauzirika based part of Aiden's relationship with Virginia upon his own experiences, which he felt made the movie "a little more interesting and a little more human". He also chose to leave the film's ending deliberately ambiguous, as he did have a set interpretation of the ending but liked the idea of multiple interpretations as he feels that "it’s much more interesting to leave the theater with a question so people leave talking about it rather than having the answer handed to you on a silver platter". Josh Lawson was brought in to portray Aiden, which Lauzirika felt made the character "more human and likable", which he believed made the character's interactions with Lung's character more explainable. Furlong was not initially considered for the role of Ravi, but was hired upon the recommendation of the movie's costume designer Oakley Stevenson. ''Crave'' was initially written and planned to be shot in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, but moved the film's setting and shooting location to
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
due to Michigan's tax incentives for filmmakers. Lauzirika had some initial hesitations over this shift, but later felt that the move was appropriate as Detroit was "a good match for Aiden" and was very photogenic. Filming took place during late 2009, but experienced some setbacks during filming, as a scene that was to be set on the
Detroit People Mover The Detroit People Mover (DPM) is a Elevated railway, elevated People mover, automated people mover system in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, United States. The system operates in a one-way loop on a single track encircling downtown Detroit, using ...
was canceled at the last minute due to concerns over the film's violent and sexual content.


Reception

Throughout most of its film festival run, critical reaction to the film was largely positive.
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said it was "a remarkable first film" and that it "gets under the skin the way the best character movies do," while Badass Digest called it, "smart, thoughtful, bloody and funny. An excellent and assured directorial debut."
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gave the film a 9 out of 10 score, saying that "Lauzirika’s directs with such confidence that he is able take themes that we’ve seen time and again and make them fresh and entertaining."
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's less enthusiastic review said that "Lauzirika’s accomplished debut feature is too funny and self-aware to be disturbing, but it’s certainly memorable."
Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...
called ''Crave'' "the kind of tough, uncompromising character study that Hollywood used to turn out with regularity, and should be supported and treasured when it appears today."
Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...
gave the film four stars and said, "it's like nothing I've seen before. A great film."
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claimed that "''Crave'' signals the arrival of an attention-demanding filmmaker who's schooled in the down and dirty noir tropes of old but possesses more than enough ingenuity to avoid copycat status." In the wake of the film's theatrical and on demand release, reaction became more mixed. The film holds a rating of 29% on ''
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'' based upon 17 reviews, which do not include any of the film's festival reviews. ''
Shock Till You Drop Mandatory (formerly CraveOnline Media) is a lifestyle website based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco. The site is owned by media company Evolve Media, LLC. Mandatory focuses its contents into the male ...
'' gave a predominantly positive review, saying that it was a "taut, twisted tale" and that it was "about all of us in a way, but especially the ones who get lost along the way." The ''
Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...
'' criticized Lawson's character as a "jerk" and didn't feel that his motivation for vigilantism was believable in comparison to anti-hero characters such as '' Falling Down's'' Foster. Collider opined that the movie "does have a relatable and worthwhile issue worth exploring" but that "Lauzirika is always going big yet going nowhere". ''
Twitch Film ScreenAnarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...
'' panned the movie overall, criticizing Furlong as the film's weakest link while also stating that his character gave the reviewer his favorite moment of the film.


Awards

* ''New Flesh Award for Best First Feature'',
Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival, also known as Fantasia Fest or simply Fantasia, is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on fantasy, horror, sci-fi and cult genre films. Regular ...
(2012, won) *''Next Wave Award for Best Director'',
Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas, focused on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action and cult films, the largest genre festival in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse. Lisa Dreyer ...
(2012, won) * ''Best Editing Award'', Toronto After Dark Film Festival (2012, won) * ''Best Title Sequence'' (closing credits), Toronto After Dark Film Festival (2012, won)


References


External links

* * {{IMDb title, 1535432 2012 films 2012 thriller films American thriller films Films scored by Justin Burnett 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language thriller films