Northern Shade

Northern Shade is a 2023 American neo-noir film written, directed, produced and co-edited by Christopher Rucinski. The film stars Jesse Gavin, Titania Galliher, Joseph Poliquin, Alejandro Bravo and Romano Orzari. In the film, a troubled US Army combat veteran (Gavin) emerges from isolation when his younger brother (Poliquin) is recruited by an extremist militia leader (Orzari).
Northern Shade premiered in Phoenix at Harkins Scottsdale 101 on April 08, 2022 as part of the Phoenix Film Festival and was theatrically released in the United States at Laemmle Theatres on February 23, 2023 by BayView Entertainment. The film received positive reviews from critics.
==Cast==
* Jesse Gavin as Justin McLaughlin
* Titania Galliher as Frankie Rosa
* Joseph Poliquin as Charlie McLaughlin
* Alejandro Bravo as Noel Acosta
* Romano Orzari as Billy
* Rose Marie Guess as Michelle
* Nick Santoro as Matthew
==Production==
Rucinski was initially inspired to write the script based on the true stories of “veterans being enticed to join militia’s when they got back home” and “lured on social media." The first draft of Northern Shade was completed in February 2020. As a result of the Covid-19 shutdowns, Rucinski rewrote the script to involve less actors and locations. Co-Producer Kyle A. Berg, an OEF Army combat engineer and high school friend of Rucinski's, was brought on as the script consultant to ensure military authenticity. The majority of the script was written at the James Blackstone Memorial Library.
Castings were announced in October 2020. Actor Jesse Gavin, having worked with Rucinski on five other projects, was granted first refusal for the lead role of Justin McLaughlin. Gavin had reservations as he himself was not a military veteran and did not want to offer a "disrespectful portrayal", but in-depth conversations with Berg convinced him to take the role. Joseph Poliquin, who previously acted in Rucinski's short film Sven, was cast as Justin's younger brother Charlie. Alejandro Bravo was cast as Noel Acosta after lending his voice to a character mood film made by Rucinski, Gill and Gavin. Titania Galliher was cast through Backstage, auditioning remotely during a New England search for actors. At the recommendation of filmmaker Christopher Martini, actor Romano Orzari was cast as Billy, the main antagonist.
Principal photography took place in New Haven county, Connecticut from November 7 to 24, 2020, with cinematographer Grzegorz Gill. Rucinski chose to film in locations that he grew up around in Connecticut. Gill shot the film with Zeiss B-Speed lenses from the 1970s, to give the film an "old-school natural" look and triangle bokeh. After a holiday break, production continued in Big Bear, CA and at a private ranch in Sylmar, CA to replicate Afghanistan. Gill photographed these scenes with anamorphic lenses to differentiate as war flashbacks. The film was financed with help from a successful Kickstarter campaign in May 2021 asking for $20,000.
During post-production, the film was co-edited by Rucinski and Derek Drouin. Robert Lydecker composed the score. The sound edit and final mix was completed by MelodyGun Sound Studios with supervision by Academy Award winning sound editor Donald Sylvester.
==Release==
Northern Shade premiered at the Phoenix Film Festival on April 08, 2022, where it won Best Screenplay. The film held its last festival appearance on March 25, 2023 in the historic Fargo Theatre at the Fargo Film Festival, where it won Best Narrative Feature and Best Actor for Jesse Gavin. The film held a three night hometown premiere at the Bow Tie Criterion Cinema in New Haven, CT in July 2022, a few miles from where it was filmed.
The film was given a limited theatrical release on February 24, 2023 by BayView Entertainment.
===Home media===
Northern Shade was released on Blu-ray on February 28, 2023, followed by a VOD release by BayView Entertainment on September 26, 2023.
==Reception==
===Critical response===
Fellow FT reviewer Bobby LePire drew attention to "some awkward moments that don’t quite stick the landing" while stating the "final 20 or so minutes are perfect" and that "even with its flaws, the film is a strong debut for the filmmaker, and he should be proud of what he’s accomplished."
The film's COVID-set backdrop and use of on-screen face masks was hit or miss with critics. Alan Ng commented that it's strange to "see most of the cast in masks. The jury is still out if this is a positive in storytelling," while Overly Honest Movie Reviews film critic Chris Jones praised their use as "natural and unforced" and described it as "a timely film that captures the world's current zeitgeist as it has been for the last several years."
Film School Radio’s Mike Kaspar highlighted Jesse Gavin’s “tent-pole” performance as terrific, with an “extremely expressive and inviting countenance” while the film provided a “nuanced approach to people radicalizing” Roger Moore of Movie Nation stated "Gavin gives a John Hawke in “Winter’s Bone” eye-opener of a performance — haunted, twitchy, weary and guilt-ridden."
Category:Neo-noir films
Category:American neo-noir films
Category:2023 films