100 Proof

Director: Jeremy Horton
Screenwriters: Jeremy Horton

Institute History

  • 1997 Sundance Film Festival

Description

100 Proof is an existential story in the southern gothic tradition. Unfolding over twenty-four hours in rural Kentucky, the film follows a troubled young woman named Rae on the day when her past and present collide. Chronically unable to live beyond the moment, Rae finds that her only means for self-determination is violence. Like the Angel of Death on the film’s sound track, Rae’s sudden actions surprise everyone around her—including herself.

Rae and her sidekick Carla are two small-time hustlers who pass their time seeking ways to antidote their desperate existences. On a day that starts out no bleaker than usual, they leave the house where they take care of a deranged elderly couple in search of cheap thrills. For Carla, the only way to forget her pain is by continual motion. When she has a chance run-in with her abusive and unredeemably evil father, her fragile trajectory is altered, and she is unable her pain. Working with local talent as well as more established actors, writer/director Jeremy Horton has created a nonsentimental story of abuse and desperation—and their potential for irrevocable damage. With bold colors that burn hotter than a southern afternoon, and the winsome country/ folk music of Appalachia ironically counterpointing the narrative, 100 Proof is an unforgettable film.

— Lisanne Skyler

Screening Details

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