This film essentially begins with a bus driver by the name of "Will" (Phillip Andre Botello) becoming bored and depressed from his day-to-day routine. So much so, that he even contemplates suicide. Then one day he strikes up a conversation with an equally bored and lonely woman by the name of "Ashe" (Jacqueline Jandrell) and they become friends and lovers. However, much to Will's dismay, she soon loses interest in him and becomes fascinated by another young man by the name of Wreck" (Cory Vaughn) instead. So, upon discovering that Ashe has found someone new, Will crashes a party that Wreck is hosting and this causes problems for everyone involved. Now, rather than reveal any more I will just say that, after reading an earlier review, I had a suspicion that this film might not be too entertaining--but since I really like vampire movies, I decided to give it a try just in case. Well, after wasting about 94 minutes, I can pretty much concur with the previous reviewer. This was a boring movie. Admittedly, the idea of exploring the transformation from human to vampire seems quite interesting. Unfortunately, the director (Aaron Pagniano) clearly had no idea about how to take advantage of this concept as this film adds nothing to the existing vampire lore. Quite the contrary, as the pacing is so slow and the characters much too uninteresting for anything to be achieved at all. That being said, there really isn't much to this movie to get excited about and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Below average.
Sunset on the River Styx
2020
Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Sunset on the River Styx
2020
Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Plot summary
Sunset on the River Styx is a surreal thriller about a a down-on-his-luck metro bus driver named Will. One day, he meets a passenger, Ashe, and the two embark on a brief but electric romance. Ashe helps pull Will out of his waking sleep to become more in tune with the world and the people around him. Through a series of ups and downs in their relationship, time and reality become blurred as they try to work through their past regrets and fears of the future.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
Poorly Written and Directed
Not worth sinking your fangs into...
More like boredom on the River Styx. Man, talk about a swing and a miss.
When I sat down to watch the 2020 movie "Sunset on the River Styx", I was expecting to watch an interesting vampire movie, as I had shuffled through a handful of reviews that praised writer and director Aaron Paganiano's 2020 movie to high heaven. But yeah, of course everything is relative and individual taste and preference, of course, because "Sunset on the River Styx" offered me no entertainment.
The storyline told in "Sunset on the River Styx", as written by Aaron Pagniano, was incredibly slow paced and monotonous, with nothing interesting happening, aside from random flashes of strange imagery. Nay, this was not really an enjoyable vampire tale, instead it was an insight into the mundane and routine-taxed everyday lives of Will (played by Phillip Andre Botello) and Ashe (played by Jacqueline Jandrell).
Now, the movie would have been a lot more watchable if it had a proper storyline and script, of course, but even having interesting performances would also spruce up the movie. But sadly, then the performances in "Sunset on the River Styx" were plagued and restrained by the utter lack of a proper script and storyline. So don't expect to be in for a Shakespearian performance here.
For a vampire movie then "Sunset on the River Styx" was insanely weak and watered down. Yeah, no thick blood here - pardon the pun. And calling this a vampire movie might actually be stretching the term quite a bit.
I found no enjoyment or entertainment in "Sunset on the River Styx". In fact, I was so bored with the pointless and laughably bad script and storyline that I gave up on the movie at the halfway marker. I just couldn't keep wasting away my life on something as poorly written and devoid of entertainment as "Sunset on the River Styx" was.
My rating of "Sunset on the River Styx" lands on a generous two out of ten stars, and that is based on the production value.
An Innovative Take on Old Subjects
Sunset on the River Styx is a beautifully shot character study set in an exstitential headspace. This movie uses new and innovative cinematography to play with the idea of perspective. The characters in the film share a relationship together and yet could not be having more different experiences within the confines of their relationship. The expert cinematography of Sunset on the River Styx conveys the characters highs and lows beautifully. Every shot of these movie is beautiful to look at. The writing is heavily existential and tackles the feeling of insignificance every human being has felt before.
Ultimately, Sunset on River Styx is an innovative look at perspective and existential dread. It's story of breaking free of our mundane routines to find a larger purpose is one that is sure to speak to people.