Review: ‘BURN’ will knock you for a loop.

SYNOPSIS: BURN follows a lonely, unstable gas station attendant Melinda (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), tired of being overshadowed by her more confident, outgoing co-worker Sheila (Suki Waterhouse).   When the gas station is held at gunpoint by Billy (Josh Hutcherson), a desperate man in need of quick cash, Melinda finds an opportunity to make a connection with the robber, regardless of who gets hurt.

The young cast has fiery energy, pardon the pun. Suki Waterhouse is a fantastic, atypical pretty girl with a bitch streak. Harry Shum, Jr. is charming as the local newbie cop. Josh Hutcherson, who I cannot help but picture in his now-iconic Hunger Games role, is undeniably strong. The emotional highs and lows of his situation are striking. The real star is our leading lady, Melinda. Tilda Cobham-Hervey is haunting in both her physicality and nuance. She keeps you on the edge of your seat all while tapping into that lonely place we all have inside ourselves. The film begs the question, who is the real villain in this story? It tackles self-harm, isolation, and flips the classic power structure on its head in truly shocking ways. The plot is unique and it will go places you are not expecting. BURN will cause you internal struggle and that is what makes it pretty damn spectacular.

Momentum Pictures will release the thriller BURN in Theaters, On Demand and Digital on August 23, 2019.

Written and directed by Mike Gan (No Evil) who is making his feature directorial debut, the film stars Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games Films), Suki Waterhouse (Insurgent), Tilda Cobham-Hervey (Hotel Mumbai), Harry Shum Jr. (Crazy Rich Asians) and Shiloh Fernandez (Evil Dead).

About Liz Whittemore

Liz grew up in northern Connecticut and was memorizing movie dialogue from Shirley Temple to A Nightmare on Elm Street at a very early age. She will watch just about any film all the way through (no matter how bad) just to prove a point. A loyal New Englander, a lover of Hollywood, and true inhabitant of The Big Apple.

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