I was going to rate The Shape Shepherd with a four but because of a little twist towards the end that I didn't see coming I'll give it a five. That's about the maximum as the movie isn't that interesting. The story is a bit boring to follow, a bit too long for what they want to show. The acting wasn't that bad so that wasn't the issue. The cinematography could have been better, with sometimes a slightly shaking camerawork. I can't say I was impressed by this movie and will most probably forget everything about it in a couple days.

Jack (Jordon Hodges ) is a psychologist with an expecting wife Stacey (Caroline Newton). It is Indiana 1987 and his brother Pike (Randy Spence) lives with them. He abuses substances and Stacey doesn't want him there. Jack claims he can figure out what is wrong with people. He can't fix them. Suddenly the two brothers are in a boat going down river. Pike had blacked out and is wanted for starting a bar fight where a man was killed. They are on the lam.

The ending made the film worth watching. It got to be slow and boring as they talked out their issues.

Guide: F-word. Implied sex. No real nudity.

Excellent film! It isn't easy to wear so many hats- writer, director, DP, editor...but Chris Faulisi pulled it off with flying colors! Very solid performances all around from the cast. Randy Spence's portrayal of a detoxing drug addict hit me on a visceral level and made me squirm, and Jordon Hodges's stoicism gave a necessary balance to his manic energy. The two played off of each other well.

The cinematography is exquisite, and lovely nature settings offer a nice contrast to the internal turmoil being experienced by the brothers while giving them a neutral playing ground to exorcise their demons.

The issue that I took with the film at first is the underrepresentation of the female lead in both screen time and character development, but in the end I understood that that was intentional, not the workings of patriarchal storytelling that has unfortunately been the foundation of cinema for far too long. Shout out to Caroline Newton who beautifully embodied her character and gave a lasting impression in an otherwise male dominated narrative.

Overall this is definitely worth at least one watch, perhaps two, for this is the kind of film that will make you want to go back for seconds!