Watch The Replacement Child on Vimeo
“It is not the storyteller’s job to provide answers,
but in fact the harder job is to correctly state the question.”
-Anton Chekhov
The Replacement Child was writer-director Justin Lerner‘s graduate directing thesis at UCLA’s School of Theatre Film and Television. It screened at the Los Angeles International Film Festival before its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.
“After spending a year in a juvenile center for beating up his stepfather, Todd Turnbull returns to his backwoods hometown a repentant, deeply religious boy. When he finds his best friend, Michael, withering away without any medical attention due to the family’s spiritual beliefs, Todd must make a choice: let his friend die; or break his oath of non-violence and take matters into his own hands.” – Via ImdB
This complex and well crafted narrative is difficult to summarize. While following Todd Turnbull’s journey from meekness to righteousness, it also compassionately depicts the other characters in his rural spiritual world. Lerner refrains from judging any of his characters, an admirable feat for such a difficult subject matter.
Lerner says that he begins every film with the above quote by Chekhov, and he remains true to it. These solid and human characters are benefited by a strong and well-constructed plot that leaves the audience to make their own judgments about its themes.
It is well worth reading Lerner’s interview on his creative process with Behance Mag to catch a glimpse of how he reigns in the chaos of the creative process through meticulous organizazion. You can also listen to a podcast featuring an interview with the filmmaker for a more in-depth discussion of the film.
Lerner has commented that he sees the film as a mixed genre; a coming of age western. This is strongly reflected in his choice of shots. We see many showdown style configurations throughout the film. One of the most memorable is the scene where Todd sees his step-father for the first time since juvenile hall, which is surprisingly realistic in its brutality.
The script is aided by very strong performances all around, especially that of the lead Travis Quentin Young, who brings a subtle elegance to this difficult charcter. The music of Sam Cooke complements the film’s spritual themes and earthy tones.
All around an excellent film and especially impressive for a student work. Justin Lerner is currently working on his first feature titled Girlfriend, scheduled to shoot in September. You can see more about him at his website www.twelve34films.com.
