Cut Bank

Dwayne McLaren (Liam Hemsworth) would do just about anything to get out of Cut Bank, Montana, hailed as the “coldest spot in the nation.” Even the town’s moniker is a let down: it’s not actually that cold there in the summer. Yet, Dwayne’s job as a mechanic working for Big Stan (Billy Bob Thornton) hardly earns Dwayne enough money to set up life elsewhere. When Dwayne happens to videotape the murder of the cantankerous mail carrier Georgie Wits (Bruce Dern) – the first murder in Cut Bank – Dwayne may have inadvertently landed his means to escape, as the federal government grants $100,000 for evidence to the unlawful killing of postal employees. According to Postal Inspector Joe Barrett (Oliver Platt), Sheriff Vogel (John Malkovich) simply has to find Wits’s body first. But the squeamish officer only discovers more dead bodies in the process, and Dwayne may be next. A star-studded, offbeat thriller, Matt Shakman’s CUT BANK has so many twists and turns, you’ll see why it’s so hard for Dwayne to leave. – E.B.