Film Review: The Quarry

The Quarry is loosely based on the 1995 book of the same name by Damon Galgut, which dealt with racial tensions in a post-apartheid South Africa. However, for his film adaptation director, Scott Teems, and his co-writer, Andrew Brotzman, have taken the ideas of the book, and placed them in modern America. Or more specifically, a small Texas town where the population is predominantly Latinx. The film version touches on the underlying racial divide informed by current events, which boils to the surface through a fairly conventional, but engaging dramatic thriller.

The setup here is that a fugitive (played by Shea Whigham) is drifting along one day when he ends up murdering a helpful traveling preacher, David Martin (Bruno Bichir). Thinking he might be able to use this moment as an opportunity to lay low, he takes on the role of the preacher, and goes to his destination. A little Texas town in the middle of nowhere. He poses as the new preacher, and takes the position. However, things soon become complicated when the body of the real preacher is discovered in the quarry where the fugitive placed him, and Chief Moore (Michael Shannon) begins to show some doubt in his original assumption that two locals may have done it.

Shea Whigham’s character is never named, he is simply referred to as “The Man” in the credits, and it adds to this quality as if you’re watching a parable. It is about a man who has lost his way – we don’t exactly know what he did to become a fugitive until near the end – and is forced to confront his demons, and the way they manifest in the world around him, which relates to the tension between Moore and his main suspect Valentin (Bobby Soto), who feels like he was never going to get a fair shake in the system. Whigham’s character has to confront these things, but it’s not done in a way that it overtly pointing to big message, allowing us to simply take in what we see, and form our own thoughts.

Given the nature of the film, what is required to make it work is largely set on whether the central performance is good, and that is where the film succeeds the most. Whigham has always been a solid character actor. I first began to take serious notice of him in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, but he has been around since the start of the century, and he’s always brought everything to each role he’s in. This is no exception. It’s a very internal performance, one that is built around the way he looks at things, at people, the way he moves and presents himself, and how that changes over the course of the film. It’s a fascinating journey, and all his little touches really elevate the material.

The rest of the cast is also quite good. Shannon is an always reliable presence who can play an authority figure in his sleep by this point, but there is a softness here, especially in his relationship with a local woman, Celia (Catalina Sandino Moreno), who also happens to be the cousin of Valentin and the young boy, Poco (Alvaro Martinez). I do wish there were more scenes to explore the relationship between these people because it sets up a compelling dynamic that doesn’t totally pay off except for one scene. However, they still do a good job at creating this sense of history that allows the dynamic to still feel natural in context of the story.

If there is any problem with The Quarry, it might be that it is a touch one note. There’s a sense of dread that carries through the film, which is devoid of any lightheartedness. It’s harsh, cynical, and it can be exhausting to a certain point. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t stay engaging because it most certainly does. You stay invested, and curious about where things will lead, whether The Man does something to redeem himself, whether he will go back to his old ways and run off, or perhaps something else. The ending it does lead to feels appropriate, and it feels earned. I’m not convinced it’s quite as profound as the filmmakers may have intended, but it a satisfying enough experience that was more than worth it just to see Shea Whigham give a terrific performance.