THE SLAUGHTER RULE American Directions

Capturing the stark landscape of a rural Montana winter in Cinemascope and smoldering performances by Ryan Gosling and David Morse, THE SLAUGHTER RULE is an astute, harsh meditation on the interminglings of growing up, identity and sense of place.

Set in a rugged rural town in Montana, Roy (Gosling) is cut from his high school football team. To Roy, football was the only escape from this rural existence. Enter Gideon (Morse), a giant of a man who is seeking kids who scrap hard to play on his six-man football squad. When Gideon recruits Roy to be his quarterback, they begin a tenuous friendship. But, winter in Montana has a way of breaking everything down-it’s a season of exposure. And their friendship is exposed to the elements.

Defiantly deeper than the typical coming-of-age story, first time twin filmmakers Alex and Andrew Smith have made a resonant, hauntingly beautiful film about survival and friendship.