Movie Review: CULPRIT

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: February 28th, 2025 / 03:09 PM

CULPRIT movie poster | ©2025 Quiver Distribution

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Jamie Donovan, Laura Vale, Carolyn Mignini, Ron Orbach, Michael Dempsey, Robert Lewis Stephenson, Richard Whiten, Nita Whitaker, Michael Naizu, Amy Motta, Jacy King, Bixby Baker
Writers: Rich Ronat & Jamie Donovan
Director: Rich Ronat
Distributor: Quiver Distribution
Release Date: February 28, 2025 (VOD/digital)

CULPRIT is a thriller that keeps us guessing throughout. It’s not for the squeamish – besides two late-in-the-running but super-gory visuals, it deals overall with crimes against two little girls, one thirty years ago and one in the present. We do not see these assaults, but the mere idea of them may put CULPRIT on the no-fly list for some viewers.

At the outset, we see a child (Bixby Baker) being dragged through the woods at night.

Cut to three weeks earlier. We’re in Huntsville, Texas, where Jack Harris (Jamie Donovan) is being released from prison after serving twenty-seven years for the rape and murder of nine-year-old Trina Walters. Jack was only fourteen himself at the time but was tried and sentenced as an adult. New evidence has exonerated Jack, but a lot of people still think he’s guilty.

With the money he’s getting from a wrongful conviction, Jack could move anywhere he wants, but as he says, Huntsville is the only home he’s ever known. He wants to stay and convince the town, not just the judge, that he’s innocent.

The victim’s older sister Lucy (Laura Vale) opens her home to Jack. She has always believed in him and thinks her father Bill (Ron Orbach) may be the real predator. While she hasn’t confronted Bill – yet – it’s led to estrangement between Lucy and her parents. Mom Ava (Carolyn Mignini) is still convinced of Jack’s guilt and is furious with Lucy for siding with him.

Then another girl is assaulted and murdered in a near-copy of Trina’s killing. Is someone using Jack’s freedom as a cover for their own actions? Or is Jack the real culprit?

The screenplay by Rich Ronat, who directed, and actor Donovan lays out clues in an almost chessboard fashion, with a scene that makes us pull for Jack, followed by a scene that makes him appear deeply menacing, followed by another scene that has us thinking someone else is doing it after all.

This technique, along with Lucy’s uneasy dreams and unclear memories, has us paying close attention. As a director, Ronat’s style is naturalistic and easy, so that everything we see can be interpreted in multiple ways. At various moments, we’re inclined to suspect practically every male character we meet.

Donovan gives Jack a thoughtful stoicism that can be seen as either forbearing rectitude or ominous patience. It’s a highly intriguing performance. Orbach likewise gives Bill multiple shadings. Mignini is impressive in her implacable rage and Vale is sympathetic as Lucy.

CULPRIT does have some things to say about rumor mills and mob violence, but its main power is in its consistent success from start to finish as a whodunit.

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A thriller that legitimately keeps us guessing

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Article: Movie Review: CULPRIT

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