Red White & Blue (film)

Erica (Amanda Fuller) spends her nights trawling the bars and beds of Austin, Texas. Emotionally withdrawn, her only form of human contact is a series of one-night stands. She eschews condoms and never has sex with the same man twice. This pattern of behavior is introduced to the audience via a prolonged initial sequence leading to a night of group sex with a young man and his two friends.

She lives in a flophouse where she does the cleaning in exchange for room and board. This arrangement with the landlady is discontinued when new boarder Nate (Noah Taylor) moves in, and Erica finds herself in urgent need of a regular income to pay for her stay. Feeling responsible, Nate helps her land a job in the DIY store where he works. Distrustful and reluctant at first, she gradually warms up to the mysterious Nate, who uses an anecdote from his childhood as a metaphor to justify his protective demeanor towards Erica despite his psychopathic tendencies. He also claims to have been honorably discharged from service in Iraq and is apparently considering a job offer by the CIA. Despite his air of danger and Erica's difficulty in leaving her promiscuity behind, the two form a hesitant bond.

The film segues to Erica's first onscreen conquest, Franki Morrison (Marc Senter), a young, hot-headed wannabe rock star who cares for his ailing mother.[3] Franki and his bandmates (shown in the film's group sex scene) secure budget for a European tour, his mother's cancer appears to be in remission, and he reconnects with his former girlfriend. All of this newfound happiness is cut short, however, when he is diagnosed HIV-positive after a routine check. This affects his mother as well, since he had been donating blood to her for months.

Distraught by the news and all of its implications, Franki decides to track down the only woman he had unprotected sex with during the past six months. His two bandmates test negative but help him out of loyalty. The three of them, along with Ed (Jon Michael Davis), a fourth friend who did not partake in the orgy, find Erica in a local bar and forcefully take her back to Franki's place. Her reaction to Franki's revelation leaves it clear that she knew what she was doing all along, but is perhaps faced with the consequences for the first time. She tries to justify her actions out of despondency after she was raped as a child by her mother's boyfriend, and reveals she slept with at least 130 men.

Franki's friends reluctantly leave him alone with Erica. Franki tries to rationalize their situation but uncovers a predatory facet in his personality. He rapes Erica and keeps her bound and gagged for the next days. During this period, his mother is implied to test positive for HIV as well and decides to take an overdose of pills. Franki finds her body, reads her note to him and in a fit of rage stabs Erica several times. He and his friends try to drive her to the hospital, but she succumbs to her injuries before the car can take off. One more time out of loyalty, they decide to take separate parts of the body for imminent disposal.

Before they can dispose of the body, however, Nate uses his CIA contact to track them down. He tortures and murders all of them, including Ed and his family, revealing himself to be a skilled and sadistic army interrogator in the process. His last victim is Franki, whom he skins alive after retrieving Erica's head. He finally decides to turn down his CIA contact's offer for a job and moves to his sister's place in Tallahassee, Florida. Halfway through his drive to Florida, he burns everything that reminds him of Erica, including a picture that reveals they had married sometime before her kidnapping.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse star Robert Hall worked on the film as Editor.[4] The film was shot in Austin, Texas in the Alamo Drafthouse – 1120 South Lamar Boulevard, Beauty Bar – 617 East 7th Street and The Highball – 1142 South Lamar Boulevard, New Guild Co-Op - 510 West 23rd St.[5] Noah Taylor, Amanda Fuller and Marc Senter played the leads in the Rumleyvision project.[6]

Red White & Blue premiered on January 29, 2010 as part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.[7] It was featured in several American film festivals: On March 16, 2010, it appeared in the South by Southwest;[8] On March 27, 2010 it appeared in the Boston Underground Film Festival; and on July 17, 2010 it appeared in the Danger After Dark Film Festival. The film will run on the Fantasia 2010.[9]

The film won the Best of Fest Narrative Award at the 2010 Boston Underground Film Festival.[10]

Pop artist and producer Richard Chester composed the official score.[11]

• Official website
• Red White & Blue on IMDb
• Red White & Blue at AllMovie
• Red White & Blue at Rotten Tomatoes
• Red White & Blue at Metacritic