Movies
[SXSW Review] ‘Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word’ Should Have Been a Warning About This Movie
Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word (formerly just The Last Word) is a stupid movie. That may seem like shallow criticism but it is in fact a stupid movie that thinks it’s a lot smarter than it is, which makes it even worse. Directed by Simon Rumley (Red, White and Blue), the film plays like a Lifetime movie that had a baby with a SyFy movie. While that may sound like good trashy fun, it’s actually the exact opposite. Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word is a dull exercise in pretension whose only true saving grace is the fact that it runs at a mercifully brief 95 minutes.
Based on true events and Jesse Quackenbush’s 2008 documentary The Last Word, the film tells the story of Johnny Frank Garrett (Devin Bonneé), a mentally disabled 17-year-old who, in 1982, was (supposedly) wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of 76-year-old nun Sister Tadea Benz. Claiming innocence from day one, the Amarillo native wrote a letter on the day of his execution in 1992 declaring vengeance on all parties involved. The film takes the story one step further as those involved in the execution start dying one by one. Adam Redman (Mike Doyle, The Invitation, Green Lantern), one of the jurors who was skeptical about Garrett’s guilt, tries to solve the mystery of who actually killed Sister Tadea Benz in order to save his son, whom Garrett has targeted next.
Overacting is the name of the game in Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word. Only Erin Cummings, as Redman’s wife Lara, manages to get by unscathed. Everyone else on screen seems to only be interested in chewing scenery in the worst way possible. This is perhaps the most true of Sean Patrick Flanery, as a corrupt district attorney, whose performance consists of a lot of shouting and spitting in an overly exaggerated Southern drawl. Similarly, Sue Rock’s portrayal of the police-informing psychic has to be seen to be believed. It is absolutely ridiculous. The film is also littered with Southern stereotypes, to the point where it becomes borderline offensive. These are not real people, but rather caricatures of Bible-belters.
One can’t help but feel that Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word is insensitive to the real Johnny Frank Garrett. Whether he was innocent or not (and the film takes a definitive stance on his innocence early on, though his innocence has never officially been proven), why take this man’s life and turn it into a supernatural schlock-fest? It cheapens the actual events surrounding this supposedly innocent man’s life.
The worst part is, the film is dull. With so much going on on screen, you would think that there would be one iota of suspense, but there really isn’t. Rumley’s attempts to terrify consist of quick cuts to disturbing imagery. None of it ever gets under your skin the way it should and after the tenth or so instance these flashes to disturbing imagery become tedious. The sound design that accompanies these edits is an obnoxious assault on the eardrums that does enhance the viewing experience whatsoever.
The editing is all over the place as well. One instance sees a(nother) quick cut to a plane crash that is so poorly done that it feels like it belongs in an episode of South Park (and should be accompanied by a fart sound instead of the explosion that actually happens). The poor editing makes it feel like you’re watching a student film. Of course, the film could still be recut before it sees distribution, so these problems may be remedied in the coming months.
Screenwriters Ben Ketai and Marc Haimes don’t seem to know if they want the film to be a Final Destination-type thriller or a serious courtroom drama about the problems in our justice system (a la The Life of David Gale). If it was only the former, it would come across as a cheap way to cash in on a real-life tragedy. If it was only the latter, it wouldn’t have that supernatural hook to make the film stand out and draw in the genre fans it so badly wants to impress. Rather than choose to be just one of those things, Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word is a weird mashup of the two that doesn’t work in the slightest.
Johnny Frank Garret’s Last Word has a high concept premise that holds a lot of promise, but the execution is so poorly done that I can’t in good faith give it a recommendation. It probably won’t see a wide theatrical release and will probably find itself released on VOD platforms, so if you’re especially curious you can give it a watch then. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word premiered at the 30th Annual SXSW Music, Film and Interactive Conferences and Festivals on Sunday March 13, 2016 and is currently seeking distribution.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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