Director Brett Bentman’s usual M.O. as filmmaker is a modern type of Texas Western, rife with criminals, schemes, and shenanigans. But there’s something different about his latest effort, “Meteor,” which is the director’s most intimate film since “90 Feet from Home.” It’s a disaster film, a survival film, and a suspense film. But first and foremost, it’s philosophical and meditative. He changes up his casting and places B22 Films regular Robert Keith in the lead, and it just works. I walked away watching this film with a warm feeling in my heart; this is a direct result of Bentman’s more personal writing and Keith’s excellent performance.
“Meteor” shows us a world post disaster, as the film’s opening has already shown us deadly meteor collisions have caused disastrous damage to Earth. It’s a credit to the film that not a lot of time is spent on the collisions and meteors and FX, which are limited due to budget, but flashes forward to the film’s protagonist, Liam, played by the aforementioned Keith. Liam is a solitary man; he lives at a ranch house in Texas, his days spent looking around the grounds with his rifle, his nights spent in loneliness. Liam doesn’t talk until almost the 10-minute mark of this 90 minute film, but captivates us nonetheless.
What works about “Meteor” is it’s slow to piece apart its deeper aspects. We learn some things about Liam: he had a wife, who is now dead, and we don’t know wether or not she was lost in the meteor strike or before. One dusk he puts a pistol to his mouth after a harrowing nightmare of missing her and pulls the trigger. The gun misfires; it seems Liam is destined for greater purpose. That purpose shows up in the arrival of Hannah (Olivia Nash), a drifter who is being hunted by some mercenaries for a sinister agenda: they want to sell her to hungry rich folk in this post apocalyptic wasteland for food. The lead mercenary is played by B22 regular Thom Hallum; he is here not his usual morally conflicted criminal, but an outright savage. It’s a credit to Hallum that he’s as scary as he is.
“Meteor” is slow to piece apart its deeper aspects, but it does so in the slow-burn relationship between Nash and Keith, and the way each discovers that the other hides more demons than initially thought. And, unlike some of Bentman’s other projects, “Meteor” is content to shine the camera on its few characters rather than bring in more alongside twists and turns. The onus is on Keith; he plays a character full of sorrow and secrets, but who can’t help but try and help this girl. What Liam did in his pre-meteor life is immaterial; in this post-apocalyptic world there are only two people: those who will help and those who take advantage. We know which side Liam falls on; we know it from the start.
The scenery for “Meteor” is as intimate as its writing; most feature Liam’s quiet ranch and some warehouse shots of a friend (Allyn Carrell) that come into play later. I especially liked the emphasis on Liam’s house in this film, the camera pointed as usual by Cinematographer Anthony Gutierrez. Lonely shots of Liam making lunch at a counter highlight the routine the man has fallen into. However, other shots on his couch, the flag of Texas hung solemnly above, help set the stage. One thing Bentman’s films do is show his love for his home state, and this one is no exception. Except, this time around there’s more at stake; in a world ravaged by savages, home might be all we have left. Bentman highlights this well, and Keith makes you believe it.
The writing is apt, and Bentman even weaves in some philosophy this time around that enhance the narrative. Some early talks Liam and Hannah have create the film’s tension; however, one conversation they have as Liam shows her how to defend herself from the mercenaries is one of the deepest I’ve seen in an indie film in some time. It has all the hallmarks of the spiritual conjoined with the physical; Keith is in complete control here. His words fall like a kind grandfather, and I don’t think I’ve wished more hopefully for a character’s fate than for Liam’s.
The other aspects of “Meteor” are good too, namely the tension, which comes from the mob of mercenaries chasing after Hannah, and one ominous scene where smaller meteors fly through the sky, after effects of the big one that changed life for all. The world that Bentman has created, while basked in sci-fi, is still fitting, and makes the material work. The film also flows evenly and does’t overstay its welcome. My only complaints are its ending, which is a tad ambiguous, and how it threatens to pull the film out of the intimate portrait set so far. The film’s ending also feels a bit rushed; however, it does nothing to harm the overall takeaway that the film has set up.
All-in-all, “Meteor” is a good film. It’s more introspective and hope-inspiring than Bentman’s more mischievous works, and shows that Robert Keith can act quite well when the situation calls for it. I’d love to see more of him in the future, as well as B22 Films. “Meteor,” with its digestible nature and focus on dialogue over action should please fans of indie film, as well as those looking for a good story. A solid recommend from this writer.
“Meteor” is available to watch on Amazon Prime, and will be for sale on DVD at Wal-Mart beginning 11/23/21.
