Mean Creek

Mean Creek is a crime drama set in a small town in Oregon, where a group of teenagers take to the river for what is meant to be a birthday outing. Sam, the younger of the Merric brothers, has been beaten up by George, the local bully. His older brother Rocky and his friends devise a plan to get even: they invite George along on the boat trip under the pretext of celebrating Sam's birthday, intending to humiliate him. Two friends of Rocky and Millie, Sam's young girlfriend, join the group, and the scheme begins to unravel once they are out on the water.

The film was directed by Jacob Aaron Estes from his own screenplay, marking his first feature, followed by The Details in 2012 and Don't Let Go in 2019. It stars Rory Culkin as Sam, Trevor Morgan as Rocky, Josh Peck as George, Scott Mechlowicz as Marty, Ryan Kelley as Clyde and Carly Schroeder as Millie, with Rick Rosenthal, Susan Johnson and Hagai Shaham producing.

Released in August 2004, the film runs 90 minutes. Its solid standing with audiences on IMDb, where it holds 7.1/10 from around 35,000 votes, is matched on TMDB at 6.8/10, though from a much smaller base of 427 votes. A critics' rating of 7.6/10 from 121 reviews places it slightly above the audience scores.