Don't Tell a Soul

Last night I impulsively decided to see Don't Tell a Soul because I was really intrigued by the premise but I was very disappointed because it could have been so much better.  Brothers Joey (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Matt (Fionn Whitehead) steal a large sum of money from an empty house that is being fumigated in order to pay the hospital bills for their mother Carol (Mena Suvari) who has lung cancer.  They are seen by a security guard named Dave Hamby (Rainn WIlson) who pursues them into the woods but then falls into an abandoned well which allows them to escape.  Matt is jubilant because they have gotten away with it but Joey is bothered by his conscience over what has happened to the guard.  He wants to contact the police but Matt, who has become as physically and verbally abusive as their father who is now dead, threatens him to keep him quiet.  Joey secretly visits Hamby at the well, bringing him food, blankets, and medicine for his injured ankle, and soon develops a rapport with him.  Joey comes to see him as a sort of surrogate father but Hamby is not who he appears to be.  Eventually Matt discovers what has been going on which leads to an epic confrontation (after a few twists and turns).  There are some big themes here, such as the generational cycle of violence within families and the hopelessness of living in an economically depressed area, but the execution is so bad that I couldn't take the social commentary seriously.  The plot goes completely off the rails in the third act because everyone inexplicably behaves in a way that is inconsistent with the characterization established in the first two acts, especially the resolution between the two brothers which, in my opinion, is not earned because it is so sudden after everything that has happened between them.  The dialogue is incredibly cringe-worthy (but it is definitely not campy or self-aware enough for this to be considered a dark comedy) and there were times when I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud.  The performances are fine (I actually enjoyed seeing Whitehead, who is more noted for playing sensitive young men in British dramas, as a villainous psychopath) but the actors can't really do much to elevate the material.  This movie had a lot of potential with such a compelling moral dilemma and a talented cast but it suffers from bad writing, erratic plot twists, and poor character development.  Give it a miss.