Blue Ruin

Dwight Evans lives at the margins, sleeping in a rusted-out Pontiac on the Maryland shore and slipping into vacant vacation homes to wash and find food. Word reaches him that the man convicted of killing his parents is being released from prison, and Dwight leaves his drifting life behind to return to his childhood home. His plan for revenge goes wrong almost immediately, and he finds himself hunted, struggling to shield the family he had long been apart from.

Jeremy Saulnier wrote and directed this crime thriller, his first feature, made on a modest independent budget and shot in Virginia. He went on to direct Green Room, Hold the Dark and Rebel Ridge. Macon Blair plays Dwight, with Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack, Eve Plumb and Stacy Rock in supporting roles; Anish Savjani, Vincent Savino and Richard Peete produced.

Blue Ruin drew strong notices from critics, earning 8.1 out of 10 from 144 reviews. Audiences are more measured: it holds 7.1 out of 10 on IMDb from around 86,000 votes and 6.8 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 1,700 votes. The gap suggests a film respected for its craft and its grim, patient approach to violence more than one that broadly connected with viewers.