Eye of God (1997)

The poster could've been better.

How’d I miss this? What a superb, atmospheric, suspenseful, compelling independent film. Absorbing from beginning to end, Tim Blake Nelson’s “Eye of God” is my “overlooked film of the moment.” It’s one that deserves more acclaim than it’s received.

The story’s unfolds in parallel lines: in one, local teenager Tom Spencer (Nick Stahl) is discovered by police late one night, drenched in blood, wide-eyed, stunned and uncommunicative. What could’ve caused this? What did he do?

In the other, 20-something waitress Ainsley Dupree (Martha Plimpton) excitedly waits for her new boyfriend Jack (played by Kevin Anderson with tranquility on the surface, but a palpable undercurrent of menace just beneath the surface) in a coffee shop. The two have never met. That’s because he’s been in prison for an unspecified offense.

Hal Holbrook plays Sheriff Rogers, a small-town Oklahoma lawman, in charge of unraveling the whole thing. He knows Tom, and is sympathetic to whatever awful ordeal the boy’s endured, while at the same time realizing that a crime has probably been committed. But how to decipher the facts when your witness has gone mute?

The less I saw about the plot and its characters, the better. The way the film unfolds is captivating. This is an expertly crafted film. Nelson is patient and thorough in his story telling. The performances, too, are skillfully given. No character feels false or unnecessary.

See this movie. It exceeded by expectations in every way. Thank me later.