WFG RATING: A

Entertainment Squad presents a Fresh Cut Films production. Directed by Rory Karpf. Produced by Rory Harvell, John Owen Lowe, and Rory Karpf. Written by Rory Karpf and Paul Russell Smith. Cinematography by Al Francesco. Edited by Corey Frost.

Stars John Owen Lowe, Sean Carrigan, Harlan Drum, James Storm, Chris Weidman, Edward Barbanell, Din Thomas, and Andrew McCarthy.

The son of a legendary 80’s Brat Packer sets out on his own in this very tense thriller about battling your demons.

Brandon Hayes has been through hell and back. A struggling addict, his father Winston has worried that one day, he will never see his son again. Brandon agrees to go to a rehab facility in the remote wilderness. En route to the facility, they stop at a gas station. When Brandon makes his way back to the car, he witnesses Winston accosted and shot by a group of locals. Recording the event, he makes his way to escape them.

Running through the forests, he runs into Cutter, a backwoods survivalist who has struggled with addictions as well, but lost nearly everything as a result. However, when the two get separated, Brandon is caught by the locals who killed his dad. Trapped in a cage in the middle of nowhere, he tries to deal with not only how to escape, but also what got him there to begin with. Brandon soon realizes the only way he can overcome this obstacle is to face himself and his demons once and for all. 

Back in the 1980s, the Brat Pack was one of the biggest talents of young actors who made it big in Hollywood. One of those legends was Rob Lowe, whose appearance in St. Elmo’s Fire became the stuff of legends and his later work as well. Now, it is time for the next generation to arrive and judging from his performance, John Owen Lowe is set to go off on his own path as he pulls off a tour de force and (should be) award winning performance.

He does get some help from the Brat Pack, but not his dad. Instead, we have Andrew McCarthy in the role of Winston, Brandon’s suffering dad who only wants to help him. However, his role is limited as the first act ends with him getting shot by a band of locals led by Luther Stone and include former TNA wrestler James Storm and MMA fighter Chris Weidman. While there’s excellent support by True Blood’s Jim Parrack as survivalist Cutter (a complete 180 from his role as Hoyt on the show), Lowe proves he can carry the film and with good reason.

The film is personal for the young Lowe. As someone who had struggled and overcame his addictions, Lowe gives us a sense of what he went through from a symbolic view of what it can be like. Running constantly from the struggle and when he gets captured, it is as if the addictions have caught up to him and he must find a way to overcome and escape to make himself a better person and survive. 

Grace Point is a fantastic symbolic look at addiction and the struggles one must face to overcome it with a tour de force performance from John Owen Lowe. A must see for drama fans.