I kept thinking I knew Meredith (Kat) from somewhere. Seeing her name in the credits didn't help until I looked her up. I knew her from when she was the strong but flawed leader of the last people left on Earth after nuclear war. Now that's quite a resume! To be clear, she might have done this movie first.
Here, she has a lot of confidence and yet half the time she is supposed to not know what she is doing. As an actor Meredith is quite good but as a cop she may have been in over her head. Plus she has to cope with being without her son., and not being able to do what she needs to for him. It's quite a range but Eliza Taylor has the ability to do it all. If it's so overwhelming she has to cry, she can do that too.
Pablo Schreiber also stands out. The opening scenes suggest a comedy where he is a Vin Diesel type who cares about his kids but is tough when he has to be. Actually, he is more tough than caring, and occasionally funny. And he is scary when he has to be.
Ben Feldman doesn't do a lot. I liked him a lot in "Superstore" but he looks so different here. He is a loving father with a positive attitude. Maybe too positive. He doesn't really fit in with the rest of the cast, but that's fine because he doesn't share scenes with the others and we need as much positivity as possible.
Jazzy de Lisser is one of the troubled teens. Just tough enough and somewhat vulnerable.
Daniel Webber is a teen in over his head, and he is likable enough, and not that tough considering what he must deal with. But he is caring and even strong when he has to be, as we get to see in at least a couple of scenes.
Jeremy Fraser is either developmentally disabled or really good at pretending. He doesn't do much, but as those who share a scene with him say, he does enough to be "cool".
Lena Headey is one of the cops in charge of taking down the dealers and the "cook" but she doesn't seem all that enthusiastic. But she's having trouble getting solid evidence so maybe it's not that she doesn't care.
This is a movie about drug dealers and users so despite the young kids shown briefly, don't expect kids to be able to watch. There is one scene with a birthday party. In the version I saw so many words were missing and the censors blurred a lot of objects shaped like cigarettes. Meredith/Kat smokes, but apparently if the audience can see what she is smoking, it is tobacco. And there is one particularly bloody scene where the audience is protected from the worst of it.
I don't remember much about music except there was a lot that I don't care for, which is to be expected with the characters here.
It's not what I would choose, but I think it's worth seeing for those who like this sort of thing.
