No. 24. (2020) BLOW THE MAN DOWN April 23rd.

Film No. 24 (2020)  April 23rd.  2:10 PM. Amazon Prime streaming. Redmond Theatre, Ocean Reef. 

"I try to protect these girls, but I can't be expected to do everything". (Enid explains part of the responsibilities she accepts as the employer of working girls in her care).

Here is another little gem streaming from the Amazon Prime platform. Oh, and what a little gem it is. This might be a good time to reflect on all the small films to miss major accolades in minor or major festivals around the world this year. COVID-19 guarantees that! Blow The Man Down is certain to go reasonably unrecognized in 2020. But not by me.

To begin with ... BTMD is a powerful vehicle for the Me Too movement, the message delivered with such subtlety and power, it doesn't become obvious till well after the credits have rolled. So how does the Me Too message colour a seedy mystery thriller with the pessimism of Fargo and the quirkiness of The Trouble With Harry? The plot revolves around 6 women who each have a secret wherein, the first to blink might lose.

Margo Martindale (The Americans, Sneaky Pete) is Enid, the town Madam, who provides a service mainly for the men of the local seafaring community. Her partner in business Mary Margaret Connolly has died suddenly and so we begin the story. Daughters Connolly, Presilla (Sophie Lowe) and Mary Beth (Morgan Saylor) are of very differing personalities and become embroiled in a deed so dastardly they are at some time going to be called to account. Then there are the three elderly women of the town who notice everything. It's all you need to know. 

It's a tight regional tale with a catch. Blow The Man Down is a guilty pleasure you can stream (Amazon Prime). It's so good, set yourself a time, watch it with other film buffs in a dark room, with a 95 minute space in your diary. I do hope Writer/Directors' Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole collaborate on something else in the future. 10GUMS.