Kathleen Kenny in Sorry, Charlie (2023)
Intensity 🩸🩸 for stalker psychological dread
Directed by Colton Tran
Sorry Charlie is a one-woman showcase for actress Kathleen Kenny, who plays Charlie, a crisis hotline volunteer who survives a serial rapist attack but is convinced that he is still stalking her. A great cat-and-mouse thriller with a compelling central figure who has managed to avoid being just another victim.
A trend in horror from the Great Pandemic is the emphasis on isolation and remoteness. The isolation created by the work-from-home career shift many have made. Sorry Charlie, a movie that debuted at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival in 2023, explores the story of Charlie (Kathleen Kenny), a young woman living alone in her home who was the victim of “The Gentleman”. This problematically named serial rapist and murderer earned his moniker for his signature costume of a top hat, skull mask, and tailored suit. The Gentleman lured women using the sounds of a recording of a crying baby on a cell phone. He waited in ambush and raped them to attempt to conceive a child.
Charlie is a survivor of his attack. To recover from her trauma, Charlie hired a therapist. She volunteers at a crisis hotline to help others struggling with distressing emotional times. By helping others get through their traumas, she helps her own recovery from her ordeal. A man has been arrested and convicted for being The Gentleman (performed by Travis William Harris, and voiced by Connor Brannigan). Charlie hears the voice of the arrested man. Charlie then knows: it’s the wrong guy. She knows that voice and it is not him.
Charlie is also apparently heavily pregnant. (ZING!) And, she believes that The Gentleman is still at large and stalking her. Evidence begins to suggest her hunches to be true. Charlie suspects he is still out there as she sifts through her mind about what is real and what might be PTSD or paranoid delusions.
Sometimes I almost wish he would… show up, just so I know I’m not crazy.
Charlie (Kathleen Kenny)
This is a one-woman showcase film, with Kathleen Kenny doing all the heavy lifting quite convincingly. The cherubic Kenny is instantly relatable, and all of her actions seem rational. Charlie may be isolated, with almost all the other characters connected to her via her phone and headset. Despite, or perhaps because of her paranoia, she has made contingencies. Charlie is a woman who is a planner, to be sure, and she is comfortable handling her own shit. (Bravo!)
As the presence and motivation of The Gentleman crystallizes, a terrific cat-and-mouse thriller ensues. Smart action begets smart responses. Watching the parry and riposte of stalker and victim as Charlie manages at times to outwit The Gentleman was satisfying. Unfortunately her best-laid plans fizzle. Kenny’s strong performance drives home some high-stakes drama. She is on track to be in consideration for a Thingy Award with her performance in Sorry Charlie.
Young actor-turned-director Colton Tran demonstrates a deft touch behind the camera; his track record of music video directing comes through in Sorry Charlie, visually. DP Michael Dean Greenwood also deserves a shout-out here. The depth of field and framing of this film impressed me. Particularly by taking the single home location in seven days, and making it very layered and textured. This film also really benefits from the play of daylight in the house, which also helps set the emotional tone of the film.
Credit writer Luke Genton for managing to create a rape-revenge movie without the most awful aspects of the trope (the rape is NOT shown… so no trigger warnings). The best part of the fighting back trope (the counter-actions of Charlie’s plan) is hugely satisfying. The concluding act is a real banger, that builds and has a real gotcha moment. No spoilers, of course. But you will want to stick around for the ending. This is definitely a contemporary horror movie that leans heavily into character, and story, and it is also a fairly short film (75 minutes) so the plot never bogs down.
Sorry Charlie just had its world premiere and does not yet have a distributor or a wide release date. This movie, if it gets rated, would earn an R rating for violence, implied rape, and some language, but this is not a particularly gory movie and would be suitable for some teens. I am curious to see how women will react to this film. The subject material is certainly the stuff of female nightmares, but whether Charlie is a compelling enough protagonist to overcome the sense of exploitation usually assigned to this kind of content would be enlightening for me. From my point of view, Charlie is a winner.
