★★★

A terrific movie exists somewhere within Nicholas Payne Santos’ It Cuts Deep, a movie which aims for twists and turns while balancing its ambitions on a micro-budget and a polarizing lead performance by Charles Gould.

Santos’ film attempts to take the idea of domestic turmoil and use it as a way to infuse elements of mystery, suspense, and horror into his feature-film directorial debut. In terms of structure, the film is adeptly put together.

In the Cape Cod countryside, Sam (Gould) and Ashley (Quinn Jackson) are spending Christmas vacation trying to focus on themselves. Their relationship is at a crossroads, which Ashley seems to recognize and Sam seems to be rather aloof about. Ashley is exploring a future, and Sam is thrown by her intiating conversations of marriage, children, and all the rest.

Out of the blue one day, Sam and Ashley encounter Nolan (John Anderson), an old friend of Sam’s and we learn the two have not spoken in ten years. Ashley’s kindness to Nolan frustrates Sam, but Nolan is all too eager to come and hang out with them, even at the expense of spending time his own wife and young daughter.

As we work through It Cuts Deep, Santos is clearly having fun recontextualizing the story and character motivations. Jackson is great, centering the film and giving us a place to connect emotionally. Her struggles in determining what she wants in life and whether Sam fits into her future feels authentic.

Anderson’s turn as Nolan is also strong, but attempts to portray him as genuine, or perhaps not who he appears to be, struggles with Santos’ attempts to play with our anticipation of where the story is heading next. Nolan’s demeanor shifts from wide-eyed and innocent to goofy and silly to vicious and cruel. These shifts prove to be something of a barrier to fully believing that Ashley would be so inviting. Nonetheless, Anderson shines with the material he has been given.

Gould is the wild card. His unrefined approach to Sam’s character means we have to endure a comedian who is perhaps not all that great of an actor. While that alone is certainly not a dealbreaker, Gould’s line readings are dull, his emotions are flat, and his ability to convey the emotions Santos has scripted come off as stilted. For me, more often than not, Gould proved a distraction, and his lack of polish as an actor stood in stark, distracting contrast to his co-stars.

With that said, Santos, who has a dozen short films to his credit, clearly has talent. It Cuts Deep is never boring, even if a plot twist of sorts is easily figured out.

Maximizing a small budget, and efficiently working through its steps, you may see where It Cuts Deep is headed well before the characters do. Still, there’s enough to like here to make this predictable journey a journey still worth considering.

It Cuts Deep received its World Premiere at the Nightstream 2020 Film Festival.