A good plan gone wrong — it’s the staple of plenty of heist, confidence, and rescue tales as the protagonists have to figure out what to do when the plan goes sideways. Will they make it out alive? Will their mission succeed? Can they remain on top? The latest film from writer/director Mark A.C. Brown (Guardians) sees him reteam with David Whitney (Guardians) for the darkly comic Dead on the Vine, coming to DVD and digital in North America. The film is a straight-forward thriller that sees its leads navigate a plan in disarray. With its brisk pacing and robust performances, Dead on the Vine offers a lingering aroma of intrigue, which, by not giving the audience time to breathe, delivers a satisfying rush to the head with few afternotes.
L-R: Victoria Johnston as Joni and Shereener Browne as Cora in DEAD ON THE VINE. Photo courtesy of Recoil Films.
On the road to London, Drayton (Tom Sawyer) experiences a seizure causing his partner, Ellis (David Whitney), to pull over at the nearest stop, a winery, to find a place for Drayton to rest and recover. The co-owner/operator Joni (Victoria Johnston) is happy to invite the pair in, even offering food and wine as they rest, while her partner, Cora (Shereener Browne), is skeptical of the two, though it could be nerves about the tasting occurring that night which has the potential to change their fortunes. But before Ellis and Drayton can hit the road, some truths come to bear which threaten everyone’s future, unless a deal can be struck and tempers kept in check.
Wine jokes aside, one of the smartest things about Vine is that the audience is thrown into things and expected to hold tight. Though we’re introduced to Ellis and Drayton first, shown driving their car, we don’t receive any information about them as neither are talking or engaging with each other, merely depicted in the car before the seizure occurs, the camera moving into and out of the car as the scene is established, before flying off via drone. This gives the characters an air of mystery while also making us immediately concerned for their wellbeing. We don’t know who they are, where they’ve been, or where they’re going (not until later), but seeing someone in a medical emergency not only creates the unexpected event that places Ellis and Drayton on Joni and Cora’s doorstep, but it makes us empathize with them. Additionally, Kieran Coyle’s (the Lost Commando Raid) cinematography here is quite specific, avoiding color temperatures that would clue audiences into the type of story this is, capturing the scenery as naturally as possible. This means that, as opposed to amplified greys and blacks or opting to incorporate blues, all of which indicate tension and disquiet, there’s a more ordinary incorporation of color: the blue sky is soft and warm, the brown eatery area of the winery is inviting, and the surrounding greenery (crop rows and surrounding wood) are a healthy green. There’s literally nothing about the color language that implies tautness or strain, which enables the audience to relax to a degree before tensions rise with the inciting incident. This early period is critical and Brown uses it well, endearing the characters to us before their safety is thrown into question.
Tom Sawyer as Drayton in DEAD ON THE VINE. Photo courtesy of Recoil Films.
Impressively, there’s more than one issue that requires resolving as the film goes along. It’s expected for a thriller to find ways to up the ante, but they typically come off as manufactured rather than naturally occurring and here, rather more than a simple “things aren’t as they appear” or “wrong time, wrong place” approach, the hiccups are mostly baked in to the conceit. This has the added benefit of creating an inevitability that propels the characters to understand that the only path forward is through. No amount of Monday morning quarterbacking will find a different path as the collective choices from before we meet the central foursome converge in such a specific way. It’s almost “For want of a nail” in its specificity. This, therefore, results with multiple ticking clocks that the narrative must address and hurdle in reasonable ways, ways that pay off in dividends as a result of the opening segment. It’s not just the ways in which Ellis ingratiates himself with Joni or that Cora’s skepticism isn’t entirely wrong, but how the four engage with each other before the penny drops, a coming to understanding without pretense or motive. This makes the various twists and turns that follow natural and believable in their execution as the characters’ time together makes them real, make them human, and, therefore, prone to opportunity. Even as several threads pull together, coalescing into a heck of a hornet’s nest for the characters to navigate, it feels less like contrivance and more like the natural outcome. Especially as a thriller, this is a difficult task to accomplish, but it comes together with simplicity and without an unnatural flair. (Think Elmore Leonard’s — author of Get Shorty, Touch, Be Cool, Rum Punch — unnatural flair as in a means of pulling everything together, at once, as if on a totally happenstance collision course.) Here, even with the thriller genre working steady, the way things develop, settle, and then stir again toward their conclusion successfully delivers because nothing appears out of sorts or uncharacteristic based on what we come to know.
This being primarily a four-hander, one must acknowledge the players. Whitney bears the difficult job of primary lead. His Ellis is the first character we meet, the one who makes the choice to pull over, and the one who must navigate all the personalities that are featured. Whitney gives Ellis a softness that endears him to us, a difficult task given the questions in the air and harder still once truths come to light. In contrast, Sawyer’s task is to make Brayton unpredictable yet empathetic, so that his brash and bold, often unthinking vocal and physical deliver still retains a dose of humanity, therefore making the audience lean in when we might otherwise pull away. Much as these two performers operate in contrasts, so do Browne and Johnston as their opposite perspectives might give the impression of undercurrent resentment if not for the way the performers grant space. For Browne, this means giving Cora dimension beyond her narrow eyes and taut countenance, which would come off as stereotypical in lesser hands, but is made shrewd and attentive, traits indicative of a character who’s faced unnecessary persecution. For Johnston, this means infusing Joni with an outward joyfulness and welcoming nature that, at first, seems in disparity from Cora, but it belies a constitution with the patience to do what is necessary. Admittedly, as great as they are in fleshing out this moment in narrative time, it’s Kate Robbins who steals the show in her brief tenure as Eva, a wine tasting guest whose background makes her quick-witted, sharp-tongued, and prone to speaking her mind. Where one might only feel unease given the context of the larger narrative actions upon her inclusion, one finds themselves wanting to spend more time with the character.
Kate Robbins as Eva in DEAD ON THE VINE. Photo courtesy of Recoil Films.
For an 80+ minute adventure, Dead on the Vine does satisfy. It’s cut most of the chaff one might expect, thereby keeping the audience on its toes as it navigates ethical murky waters. Though the bookends applied to the film add a layer of intrigue that the film doesn’t necessarily need, the closure it provides does hammer home why this is a darkly comic tale. If nothing else, it may give home viewing audiences a new filmmaker to explore.
Available on DVD and digital May 13th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Mark A.C. Brown Dead on the Vine webpage.
To purchase, head to the official MVD Entertainment Group Dead on the Vine webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Home Video, Reviews, streaming
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