Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Almost Mercy’

Written by Scott Edwards

It can be difficult to grow up in a small town, mostly because everyone is in everyone else’s business. Sometimes you need to be alone without the town judging you for having a bad day, but that never seems to happen. Many people love the small-town atmosphere, it has a great appeal to it, but when you need to get away from it, you really need to get away. Some people will never leave these towns, like their parents before them, but there are some that cannot wait to leave the small town behind and head into the big world and see what it has to offer. No choice is wrong, I know that I would have to bolt, as I am never happy with being complacent, but I know many that would love to stay.

When Jackson arrives in town, everybody thinks he is strange and dirty, but Emily does not judge him on his looks and takes a liking to him. As the two battle through school together, they see the good and the bad, but mostly the bad. Being outcasts in the town makes them easy targets to be picked on and abused. But there is only so much that the two can take and when being challenged in the locker room, Jackson finally snaps and is able to defend himself against the young men looking to start a fight. Taking one boy's thumb, Jackson is kicked out of school and finds a new calling from his court appointed mentor, guns and shooting,

Not seeing each other for a couple months, Emily is surprised to hear from her oldest friend. With Jackson’s father passing away, the house is turned over to him and with his fantastic mental strides, he is ready to live life to the fullest. But when Emily comes over and he shows her detailed plans to their school so he can teach everyone there a lethal lesson, Emily finds out that he is just as unstable as before. Forcing him to do this on his own, Jackson arrives at the school, with gun in hand and is ready to rock and roll. When seeing the students walking out however, Jackson folds and the police arrive before any damage is done. Emily sees it happen on the news and being the stronger of the two decides to honor her friend the only way she knows how. With the entire town being against the two, it is next to impossible to know who the targets will be, but there will be a bloodbath.

This is a really well told story about two outcasts that believe they were forced to go above and beyond what a rational person would do to fight off the baddies. I know that killing those who have made your life a living hell is not the answer, but this town is shown to have problems of its own. When Jackson defends himself in a fight, he gets thrown out of school. When Emily is assaulted by the football team, the police will not even listen to her and give the Principal authority over the case to keep the team in check. The movie stays on point and even though you spend much of it getting to know your characters, it does not move that slow. And when the finale begins, you do not regret anything that you have just seen. As Emily and Jackson have been dealing with this their entire lives, I can understand that they did not need a trigger for what they are about to do, they just see no other recourse than to end the madness once and for all. Stay Scared.

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