Chelsea Black is a writer and digital media content creator with a background in public relations and diversity studies. She strives to create and showcase content that emphasizes representation for all communities and overall diversity and inclusion. Her values and beliefs align with The Hollywood Insideras she believes that the power the media holds should be used in meaningful and uplifting ways. She believes in the capabilities of storytelling and that it can promote positive change in many aspects. In her free time, Chelsea enjoys reading and reflective writing.
Oct 9, 2021
Table of Contents
Photo: ‘South of Heaven’
To what extent would you go to give one of the most important people in your life the best last year of their life? ‘South of Heaven’ follows convicted felon Jimmy (Jason Sudeikis) on his journey to give the love of his life, Annie (Evangeline Lilly), the best last year of her life; well, that’s the plan anyway. Annie has been struck with fatal cancer and has been informed that she will only have one more year to live. Annie is Jimmy’s childhood sweetheart. After serving twelve years in prison, they seemingly still have some fantastic connection because Jimmy is released early on parole to help take care of and provide the best year ever to Annie.
‘South of Heaven’ releases in theaters on October 8 and just might be one of the most romance-filled thrillers of the year. Up to this point, you might have been thinking this was another romantic-drama film where Jimmy and Annie end up living happily ever after, but it’s definitely not, from what the trailer shows at least. Jimmy is released from prison and begins his journey of caring and providing for Annie, which in reality means he is absolutely working his tail off every day in order to provide. Jimmy’s parole officer, Schmidt (Shea Whigham), realizes the struggles and hard work he’s putting in and offers a side job that is not quite what it seems.
Will more crime follow?
As you can probably assume, this side job is definitely not something Jimmy should involve himself with; after all, he’s already a convicted felon. In reality, Schmidt has just set Jimmy up for failure whether he realized it or not. A series of events ensue that aren’t really revealed in the film’s trailer, of course, and soon Jimmy is dealing with some of the roughest and rugged criminals in the town; specifically, he finds himself in trouble with a local crime boss, Price (Mike Colter). Not much of Jimmy’s past is revealed in the trailer, but I am curious if whether this is his first time dealing with these people or if they are the reason he ended up in prison in the first place.
It is clear that Jimmy’s number one goal throughout the film will be to provide Annie with the best year of her life, but it seems in the end, he will be protecting her from his own mistakes rather than giving her the best year ever. ‘South of Heaven’ will probably just play along with the fact that the excitement from the crime-filled plot is what gives Annie her best year. Or Jimmy will somehow overcome his battles with the other criminals and will continue on with their original plans of having a fantastic year. Either way, I am excited for the combination of romance and thriller that ‘South of Heaven’ will showcase.
Romantic Thriller Films
The feature of a love story intertwined into a crime-filled movie is not rare, but that doesn’t make it any less thrilling. I am curious to see how the producers, directors, and writers of the film will balance the romance and thriller side of the movie in a way that it won’t be overwhelming for viewers to keep track of what is going on. Will we see Annie join Jimmy on his crime-filled missions in return, providing her with the most exciting time of her life? Or will Annie get left behind in Jimmy’s attempt to protect her from the people he’s in trouble with?
Either way, I hope Annie’s last year of life ends up being excellent in whatever way that might be, but really I am excited to see how the cast of the film takes on the variety of roles within the film. Overall, the cast and production crew for ‘South of Heaven’ are backed with experience in the thriller genre, and I can’t wait to see what is to come for ‘South of Heaven.’
Fans of Jason Sudeikis have seen him in a wide range of genres of films over the years, including thrillers. For example, you have probably seen him in the thriller film, ‘Driven,’ that’s similar to ‘South of Heaven’ in that it’s full of crime. Still, it’s kind of rare to see Jason in more serious roles as we often see him in comedy films such as award-winning ‘We’re the Millers’ and ‘Booksmart.’ On the other hand, Evangeline Lilly has had roles in other thriller films such as ‘Crisis’ and award-winning television series ‘Lost.’ Evangeline has also starred in various other popular films such as ‘Avengers: End Game’ and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp.’
Director and writer of ‘South of Heaven,’ Aharon Keshales is known for his writing and directing of various thriller films, including award-winning ‘Big Bad Wolves,’ which follows the story of the mysterious death of a young girl. He also has written and directed the award-winning horror film ‘Rabies’ which follows the story of two young siblings who get caught up in trouble after running away from home. Overall, I am excited to see Aharon Keshales’ experience within the thriller/horror film genre come to life in ‘South of Heaven.’
‘South of Heaven’ Bound
As we await the arrival of ‘South of Heaven’ in theaters on October 8, I can only imagine the story that will unfold that we can not see from the trailer. The trailer for the film clearly reveals the thriller aspect of the film, but not as much information can be assumed about the romance side. I guess we will just have to see what is to come for Jimmy and Annie.
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Chelsea Black is a writer and digital media content creator with a background in public relations and diversity studies. She strives to create and showcase content that emphasizes representation for all communities and overall diversity and inclusion. Her values and beliefs align with The Hollywood Insideras she believes that the power the media holds should be used in meaningful and uplifting ways. She believes in the capabilities of storytelling and that it can promote positive change in many aspects. In her free time, Chelsea enjoys reading and reflective writing.
Chelsea Black is a writer and digital media content creator with a background in public relations and diversity studies. She strives to create and showcase content that emphasizes representation for all communities and overall diversity and inclusion. Her values and beliefs align with The Hollywood Insideras she believes that the power the media holds should be used in meaningful and uplifting ways. She believes in the capabilities of storytelling and that it can promote positive change in many aspects. In her free time, Chelsea enjoys reading and reflective writing.
