Hellmant 'THE RECKONING': Three Stars (Out of Five)Australian crime-mystery-thriller flick starring the brothers of some well known celebrities; Jonathan LaPaglia (kid brother of Anthony LaPaglia) and Luke Hemsworth (big brother to Chris and Liam Hemsworth). It was written and directed by John V. Soto and also stars Viva Bianca, Hanna Mangan Lawrence and Alex Williams. It tells the story of a cop investigating the murder of his former partner; while also tracking down two troubled teens, linked to the killing. The movie is pretty well made but nothing too memorable. LaPaglia plays Robbie Green; a detective investigating the roadside murder of his ex-partner Jason Pearson (Hemsworth). He finds an SD card, at the scene of the crime, that contains video shot by two runnaway teens; Rachel (Lawrence) and AJ (Williams). The teens were making a documentary, on the hit-and-run death of Rachel's sister, and the video could contain information leading to Pearson's killer. With the help of Detecitve Jane Lambert (Bianca), Green investigates the crime and finds some pretty shocking and gruesome imagery, on the video, in the process.I was expecting a pretty poorly made, and mostly boring, B movie crime thriller but this is better than that. The acting is all pretty decent (especially LaPaglia and Lawrence) and the directing isn't too amateurish. It does kind of feel like a long episode of a popular cop TV show, but a good one at least. While the film is more interesting (and better made) than I was expecting, it's still nothing too special and I doubt I'll remember too much about it more than a year from now.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: youtu.be/N3ywdecCULw

Barry Maxwell I was a little cautious about John Soto's new film The Reckoning. I think the 'found footage' genre is over saturated. However, The Reckoning doesn't quite play out that way, in fact it's an intriguing mix of found footage and the police procedural. I feel that there is enough of a twist on the genres that it actually becomes quite engaging.The story develops nicely, and the two arcs of characters are molded together well. I think that Hanna Mangan Lawrence and Alex Williams, playing the two runaway teens, really shone in this film. That's not to say Jonathan LaPaglia and Viva Bianca were bad, they were good as their roles, but Lawrence and Williams were a driving force in the film.I feel like The Reckoning is a great Aussie film, I took particular joy in seeing Perth on the big screen, and after watching it I really want to see Soto's other films Crush and Needle.

adrossan I was about to let my attention wander with this movie, when it took an interesting turn.It had my full attention from then on, and while not a world beater, I quite enjoyed it.Made a change from over-the-top clichéd rubbish, and put a new turn on the almost exhausted found-footage genre, which I hope will take a long rest very soon.This not a found footage film per se, but uses the style to clever use to keep our Detectives on the hunt and guessing, as does the viewer.I liked also the intelligent denouement and completion of the storyline, except for one section, which still needs work in most films.More attention should be paid to this critical part of any film (budding film makers TAKE NOTE), as it can often snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, leaving the viewer appalled at a "cheapskate" way out of a corner the writers have painted themselves into. Reference American Gigolo as an example of a poor and rushed ending that spoiled an otherwise very good film.A little more use of the Australian scenery would have added a more Aussie feel to the picture, which has somewhat of a generic feel (could have happened anywhere) but overall the dark subject matter was handled quite well with deep moods and lighting to match, not too dark and still able to hear every spoken word.Nice one John Soto, more please.....

adamgeorgeson My first review on this site.Although I was able to watch the full movie, I at times, criticized certain points in the movie that are completely unrealistic and very badly acted.Based in Australia, there are numerous major flaws to this movie, numerous things that the Police in America use(Badge) are used in this movie. It makes no sense, and when you notice it, it ruins the rest of the movie for you.On numerous occasions, the plot and acting is completely off, and had me wanting to stop watching the movie.The only reason I watched the whole movie was because I was already half way through, and couldn't be bothered watching another.In short:The movie is a typical, corrupt cop, wife kids, having a secret relationship with the "hot" partner cop, has a friend who is on the wrong side of the law, they somehow get into a situation where the cop has killed someone. For some weird reason he gets away with it, the person who he ran over, family member(Sister) and coincidently a guy he "Arrested" a couple years early that is "Mentally ill" go on a killing spree for "Everyone who contributed to her sisters death"(Somehow the plot leads us to a gang of drug dealers), also somewhere in between a girl and a mentally ill guy kills high ranking dangerous drug dealers, without the police catching them.Another spoiler, the big guy with tattoos, his car is left INSIDE A WAREHOUSE!? and the "Police were called" earlier in the day, yet these two main characters are FIRST ON SCENE? IN A WAREHOUSE?.Don't watch it. Waste of time, poor acting, could barely keep watching it. Typical Cop turned bad movie.