« Death After Dusk» by Chandler Balli

After «Sect» and «One Left», films that reveal an original look at investigating concepts such as conscience and good and evil, which we have written about in recent seasons, American director Chandler Balli tries his hand at work with Western tones with Death After Dusk, a feature film selected at the Rome Prisma Film Awards in October.

With this project, the director combines a thorough knowledge of the genre’s classics with the nimble writing of a screenplay, which he co-wrote with Travis Lee Prine, full of multifaceted and complex characters who warp parallel plots resulting in a compelling and suspenseful cinematic experience to the end.

Set in the desolate town of Buck Creek in 1899, Death After Dusk takes us to follow the misadventures of a duo of bounty hunters (Chandler Balli as “Skinny”,  and Addison Chapman as “Short”) on the trail of a mysterious assassin known as the Buck Creek Killer terrorizing the town.

Chandler Balli’s direction brings to life a gritty and ruthless setting, masterfully capturing the eerie and foreboding atmosphere of Buck Creek while immersing the audience in a world where danger lurks around every corner. Without sacrificing a touch of modernity, the attention to detail in the period setting adds another level of authenticity and involvement to the film. The weary town sheriff, unable to bring the killer to justice, brilliantly played by Sammy Wilson, decides to assemble a team of nine deadly bounty hunters to track down and eliminate the ruthless killer once and for all. Each bounty hunter brings a unique personality and skill set, creating an unpredictable group dynamic. As tensions within the team rise, conflicting secrets and motivations come to light, fueling doubts and suspicions that threaten to divide them.

But this tale of guns and bounties in the dust of a mysterious village is not the film’s only narrative, which unfolds in a dual storyline dedicated to the importance of storytelling and writing as the germ from which the purest essence of the cinematic form is born.
Death After Dusk, seamlessly weaves together elements of mystery, western, and psychological thriller, resulting in a compelling and layered story.

A testament to directorial talent, the film explores and blends deeper and seemingly distant themes such as redemption, the search for truth, and the darkness within each of us. Get ready for an unforgettable cinematic experience that will leave you breathless and looking forward to Balli’s future projects.