Review of ‘Anchorage’ (Scott Monahan, 2023)

‘Anchorage’ is a small budget, tiny running time drugs-fuelled, nihilistic road movie/crime drama played out on the highways of America, leading towards a destination that remains in view but is never reached. The lead characters are brothers with different interpretations on how to interact with the law officials they encounter (should they enter into dialogue with them or shoot point blank?), but despite the mere 79 minute running time the film does feel overstretched, as when the dialogue revolves around the best city for the brothers Jake (Scott Monahan, also the film’s director) and John (Dakota Loesch) to sell their stash of stolen drugs.

There is also a curious scene, repeated towards the end, whereby the brothers pretend to give a eulogy at the death of the other, and which is supposed to demonstrate more that they can convincingly lie rather than that they necessarily have great feelings for the other. And the last couple of scenes establish just how transactional fraternal relationships can be when the tensions between them lead to the quieter of the two embodying the other’s aggression, with devastating consequences.

This is yet another film which shows the American dream as despoiled and broken, as the brothers travel across abandoned towns (not even a hitchhiker in sight) and encounter few other humans, except one memorable one who is quickly dispatched, but this is matched by an open landscape captured in glorious widescreen which emphasizes the miles of open spaces lacking in human presence.