Crumb Catcher
Directed by Chris Skotchdopole
Written by Chris Skotchdopole, Larry Fessenden, Rigo Garay
Starring Rigo Garay, Ella Rae Peck, Lorraine Farris, and John Speredakos
Unrated
Runtime: 103 minutes
In select theaters July 19th

by Tori Potenza, Staff Writer

If you grew up with Disney princesses and fairy tales that always end with soul mates finding true love, it can be a harsh reality when you realize life, and relationships are much more complicated, and far less whimsical. Even if you’ve found your prince or princess charming, happily ever after is a lot more work than most of us expect. Of course love and heartache are the source of inspiration for much of the media we consume, but it's particularly interesting to watch something that shows just how strange and paradoxical these partnerships can be. Crumb Catcher is an unexpected genre film that at its core is about love and the work that partnership takes, no matter how unusual the couple is.

Leah (Ella Rae Peck) and Shane (Rigo Garay) have just gotten married and are about to spend their honeymoon in a picturesque remote cabin. The couple are already dealing with tension around Shane’s upcoming book launch when they are visited by a strange man named John (John Speredakos) and his wife Rose (Lorraine Farris). It quickly becomes clear that John and Rose intend to extort the couple for money, although John’s biggest concern is not just walking away with money, it's about convincing them to invest in his new invention. The evening becomes increasingly stressful as the couples go head to head and they get closer and closer to a violent confrontation.

What could be a silly, and potentially forgettable, indie film manages to subvert audience expectations and ends up having some very serious themes and memorable emotional moments come through. It is really a testament to the writing and performances. It is such a small cast and for the most part takes place over the course of one night in a single location. So the fact that they are able to hook you with an absurd plot and have you feel very invested in what happens to its characters by the end is very impressive. In this way it has sort of the feel of a George Saunders or Etgar Keret short that always manages to bring to light some touching morsel of human truth regardless of how outlandish the story might get.

One of the best aspects of Crumb Catcher is the hat trick it pulls with its characters. The leads seem to both be one dimensional characters who give off big “side character energy”. Almost as soon as we meet them we are meant to have reservations about them, and their success as a couple. I was quick to make snap judgments about them, as many of us are prone to do, and was pleasantly surprised by how invested I became in their journey and struggle. This also mirrors what goes on with the characters in the story, the assumptions they make fuel many of their actions which cause the horrors to escalate. The actors clearly understood how to roll with the tone and evolution of the story. Ella Rae Peck and Rigo Garay both bring so much to their characters, bringing complexity and multidimensionality to the story. John Speredakos and Lorraine Farris do much the same for their roles as the antagonists of the film, showing us how quickly our preconceived notions can turn out to be false.

Crumb Catcher is a hard film to describe, and even really market, but it has a real heart to its story. Much like the relationships it centers, it's a reminder that collaborative efforts like relationships, or filmmaking require a lot of work and a dash of magic to come together. The creative team is so impressive and shows how essential the human element is in storytelling.