Take Me to the River (2015)
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A teenager's trip to a rural family reunion turns into a nightmare of suspicion and long-held secrets.
The story
Ryder, an openly gay 17-year-old high school student from California, travels with his mother, Cindy, and father, Don, to rural Nebraska to attend a family reunion on his uncle's farm. Ryder intends to use the trip as an opportunity to come out to his extended Midwestern family. However, Cindy strongly discourages him, insisting that revealing his sexuality would disrupt the family dynamic and provoke friction with her conservative relatives. Upon arrival, Ryder’s urban attire immediately draws silent disdain from his older male relatives. In contrast, his four young female cousins, particularly nine-year-old Molly, are fascinated by him and follow him around the property.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Ryder, an openly gay 17-year-old from California, travels to a rural Nebraska farm for a family reunion. While his mother, Cindy, tries to hide his identity from conservative relatives, a conflict arises when his cousin Molly is found crying in a barn after a play session. Her uncle, Keith, accuses Ryder of sexual assault and physically attacks him. After a tense dinner where Keith subjects Ryder to psychological testing, a later interaction between Molly and Ryder at a river reveals that Molly was intentionally coached by her father to perform a specific physical act. This act was a calculated move by Keith to frame Ryder, mirroring a situation from decades ago where Cindy was blamed for a similar incident involving Keith. The film concludes with the family choosing to leave the situation unresolved as they drive away.
- First release year
- 2015
- Runtime (minutes)
- 84
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Matt Sobel
- Writers
- Matt Sobel · writer
- Cast and characters
- Logan Miller · Ryder; Robin Weigert · Cindy; Josh Hamilton · Keith; Richard Schiff · Don; Ursula Parker · Molly; Elizabeth Franz · Evelyn; Azura Skye · Ruth; Ashley Gerasimovich · Abbey
- Genres
- drama
- Themes
- family secrets; false accusations; generational trauma; identity
- Tone and mood
- tense; unsettling
- Setting
- A farm in rural Nebraska.
- Premise and plot tags
- LGBTQ+; rural; mystery
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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