Having taken a short break from independent films for a short while, I was able to watch Nothing Without You with a fresh set of eyes and an eagerness to get back to the indie scene. What Xackery Irving has accomplished with a small budget and crew is extremely impressive and is understandable why Nothing Without You has received such positive acknowledgment from the independent festival circuit (check out our interview with Xackery for more details).

Nothing Without You is a gripping suspense drama focused on a mentally unstable woman’s path to proving her innocence and freeing herself against a crime she is determined she did not commit. All the odds are stacked up against her and with only the help of her troubled Psychiatrist Dr Charles ‘Charlie’ Branham (Keith McGill), does she find the courage to continue searching for answers. It is whilst pursuing the people who are framing her for the murder of Counsellor Michael Greenwood’s wife that she also finds herself embarking upon a journey of self discovery and personal acceptance.

Jennifer Stidger (Emily Fradenburgh) is a psych-patient who has been in and out of hospital for many years, and committed more recently for being arrested regarding an obsession with a man. Michael Greenwood (Joshua Loren), a local Counsellor with a lot of money and connections meets Jennifer whilst she is undergoing treatment – he takes an interest in her, which she notices immediately. Her energy and attention is from then on out, focused towards him and getting him to see her as a beautiful woman, rather than as a needy troubled basket case.

Once she successfully lures him into her capture, he cannot resist her efforts to seduce him. When she wakes up alone after spending the afternoon in bed with him, she cannot fight the urge to leave him alone and decides to stalk his every move, find out more about him, and watch everything he does. It is from doing this that she witnesses the murder of Greenwood’s wife to which she is inevitably framed for. Her willingness to prove she is not guilty knows no limits. Her determination to bring down the real killer and find the answers as to why his wife was killed and why she is being set up for her murder, is unstoppable.

This beautifully shot film, captured on the RED camera, is a fantastically written and directed story with an outstanding performance by Emily Fradenburgh. She was able to bring to life the character of Jennifer Stidger, so that the troubled yet clever and cunning woman she was written to be is as connected to the audience as much as possible. In doing so, her performance leaves you completely emphatic to her ventures, all the while not knowing whether you can trust her at all. Her commitment to the role is certainly seen.

After watching Nothing Without You I look forward to seeing more from Xackery Irving and I will definitely keep my eye out anything featuring Fradenburgh, I hope great things come to both.

After writing credits for blockbuster titles such as Beyond Borders and The Island, Caspian Tredwell-Owen extends his talents beyond just writing and into directing with his debut of the indie crime thriller, Profile of a Killer. Even if the storyline sounds and even feels like an episode of CSI, Profile of a Killer achieves more than most other psychological thrillers do with less resources. At large the film remains captivating even when some flaws are seen along the way.

The film begins as two young kids are playing on a winter Minnesota day when suddenly one of them finds a head of a skeleton sticking out above the snow. This discovery swiftly launches a full scale investigation by the local police. Similar findings of skeletons start popping up all along U.S. Highway 61 which prompts investors to declare the serial killer the moniker H-61 Killer. The findings leave local police baffled and as the case begins to grow outside their jurisdiction, they are forced to call in the FBI.

Saul Aitken (Gabriele Angieri) is a former FBI agent who has extensive background in serial killer profiling, naturally he was the first name to come up when looking for an expert to head this high-profile investigation. Although Saul is slightly reluctant to remove himself from his comfortable retirement life in Florida, he agrees to take on the case alongside help from FBI Special Agent Rachel Cade (Emily Fradenburgh). This begins a cat and mouse game between the H-61 Killer and the authorities.

Profile of a Killer starts off a little rough. The very opening scene when the kids first find the skeleton is downright comical. The camera zooms in on the bloody head of the skeleton for what feels like an inordinate amount of time, but thankfully the whole scene realistically lasts about 30 seconds. Further editing in a couple other scenes could have helped maintain the aesthetic that the rest of the film had. Although the first 15 minutes of the film remain a pretty standard affair, the film does eventually step off the beaten path and begins to separate itself from most other crime thrillers. The film very well could have been just another serial killer film filled with unnecessary gore, but Profile of a Killer stands apart by being more of a dark coming-of-age story rather than your run-of-the-mill crime thriller.

The most noticeable quality of Profile of a Killer is the high production value of a low budget indie film. The film contains solid use of the camera and a praiseworthy overall effort in art direction. Only a few times did acting performances seem a touch over dramatic but those came from supporting roles rather than the leads. But that could be attributed to their given lines because on several occasions the dialog felt a little off-kilter.

After speaking to Gabriele Angieri after one of the screenings, he informed me that Caspian had originally cast Samuel L. Jackson to play the character, before the $12 million dollar financing fell through. Gabriele’s Italian build closely resembles that of Robert DeNiro, whom I was told also looked over the script. It was a bit surprising to find out that Profile of a Killer was Gabriele’s first feature film, as he handled the role effortlessly as if he has been doing lead roles for years. Because of that, he stood out among the cast as others seemed a little wet behind the ears.

Like many crime thrillers, if you find yourself poking around the plot details afterwards you are bound to find a few holes and unneeded scenes. Profile of a Killer contained a few contrived and eye rolling situations, like when two lead investigators sleep together seemingly only for plot purposes. But fortunately those moments in the film are mostly over-shadowed by excellent pacing in which you find yourself most concerned with what is going to happen next. The film is far from perfect, but the fact it attempts to do more than most in its genre with fewer resources to work with is the big accomplishment here.