River's Edge (1986)
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A group of teenagers must navigate the moral decay and consequences of a friend's brutal murder.
The story
In a Northern California town, a group of teenagers becomes entangled in the aftermath of a violent crime. After a boy named John admits to murdering his girlfriend, Jamie, his friends Layne and Matt are forced to confront the reality of the act. While Layne focuses on the logistical nightmare of disposing of the body, Matt is visibly disturbed by the violence. The group navigates a landscape of drug use and moral apathy, attempting to manage the secret while dealing with the looming threat of police intervention and their own internal conflicts regarding the tragedy.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In Northern California, a pre-teen boy named Tim witnesses a teenager, John, standing next to the corpse of his girlfriend, Jamie. After Tim steals beer from a convenience store, he accompanies John to buy marijuana. John eventually confesses to his friends, Layne and Matt, that he killed Jamie. The group, including Layne's older brother Mike, travels to the body's location, where Layne pushes the corpse into a river. To evade police, they hide out at the home of Feck, a disturbed ex-biker and drug dealer. While Tim and Moko break into Feck's house looking for a gun, they instead get high on his marijuana. Feck, who has confessed to murdering his own girlfriend years prior, eventually shoots a sleeping John in the head. The police arrest Feck and question Layne. At the end, the teenagers gather at the river. Matt admits he told the police about John's crime. Feck is hospitalized, where he confesses to both murders. The film concludes with the teenagers attending Jamie's funeral, showing emotion at seeing her one last time.
- First release year
- 1986
- Runtime (minutes)
- 99
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Tim Hunter
- Writers
- Neal Jimenez · writer; Neal Jimenez · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Crispin Glover; Keanu Reeves; Ione Skye; Daniel Roebuck · John; Dennis Hopper · Feck; Joshua Miller · Tim; Roxana Zal
- Genres
- crime drama; horror
- Themes
- alienation; moral vacancy; bleak coming of age; irresponsible adult figures
- Tone and mood
- harrowing; disturbing; bleak; tense
- Premise and plot tags
- crime drama; teen drama; murder; juvenile delinquency
- Source material / true-story basis
- The 1981 murder of Marcy Renee Conrad in Milpitas, California
- Reception
- The film received largely positive reviews and was praised for its performances and subject matter, though it was polarizing and considered a contemporary horror film by some critics.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 88% · review count: 42; Metacritic · score: 73 · review count: 19
- Awards and nominations
- Best Picture · Independent Spirit Awards · 1986 · win
- Production trivia
- The film was partially inspired by the 1984 murder of Gary Lauwers by his friend Ricky Kasso.; The soundtrack features songs from various punk and metal bands, including Slayer, Fates Warning, Agent Orange, and the Wipers.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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