STATION TO STATION

Written & Directed by Benjamin Bryant

I believe the future is bright for writer/director Benjamin Bryant. His debut feature film STATION TO STATION proves that he has a voice and a vision - and the ability to handle the massive undertaking that is creating a full-length movie. There are some bumps in the road here, but for an ambitious micro-budget feature, Byrant is off to a wonderful start.

STATION TO STATION follows protagonist Tom (David Eggers, July 2021’s Best Actor choice for IndieEye Film Awards) as he trades his disrupted New York life for a new and uncertain adventure in Las Vegas. There he meets Jordan (a grand performance by Jordan Getty, earning this film IndieEye’s July 2021 Best Ensemble Cast award) and Tom’s true journey of self-discovery begins.

Bryant’s characters are well drawn and their stories matter. The turns will keep you guessing (and guffawing) through seedy, but fun, interactions and progressions. There is a brilliant balance of overt dialogue and moral subtext. I appreciate a director’s restraint in letting the actions of his protagonist represent themselves rather than enduring needless on-the-nose exposition.

That being said, there is a bit of a heavy handed approach when it comes to additional character exposition. Often in STATION TO STATION we have scenes with extended conversations between people who are simply sitting or standing about - which leads to my only two criticisms: 1) I would have loved the blocking in such scenes to be more thought out and purposeful. The characters should have been given some business (preferably related to the story, but really anything would have made these moments far more interesting). And 2), when the characters are static throughout dialogue exchanges, the handheld jitters on the RED really become apparent and distracting. Production would have benefited greatly from a tripod or gimbal - any form of camera stabilization.

Considering the story and talent that Bryant delivers, these are minor complaints. Give this man a proper crew and a suitable budget and I know he’ll rise above these common indie film issues.

STATION TO STATION is a well-spun and twisty tale about relationships, trust and acceptance that we found entertaining and worthy of awards, including Best Feature for our July 2021 edition of IndieEye.

Congratulations to Benjamin and his team for crafting such an enjoyable film.

-Matt Cassidy