Under the Radar / UK premiere

White Lightnin’

  • Dominic Murphy /
  • UK / Croatia /
  • 2008 /
  • 90 mins

Edward Hogg, Carrie Fisher, Muse Watson, Owen Campbell

A true original – shocking, fantastical, and driven by a whirlwind energy.

Dominic Murphy

Directly after attending film school, Dominic Murphy won the Network 7 Young Director’s competition and was immediately given a directing job. He spent eight years directing a wide range of material for television, including documentaries, art programmes and short dramas. In 1997, he moved into commercials, where the first examples of his work included adverts for Sony Playstation and the VW Passat Obsession campaign. White Lightnin' is his first feature film.

2009 Archive

Image from White Lightnin’

Comments

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  • #1 DIANA VIRGINIA TODEA / Saturday 20 June, 2009 / 18:21 GMT

    I found this movie to be a mixture of psychological elements and a quest for the purity of the soul. For me the leading actor-Edward Hogg-, who plays Jesco, was a true revelation due to his inside power of revealing fear and desperation. Although not a horror movie, it succeeded in scaring a lot of spectators with its haunting imagery and sound "paranoia". A true drama, captured entirely on the face of Jesco, the struggle of finding the reason to live along with a tormented vision of good and evil, this movie proved to be the cut scene of every star's life.

  • #2 Phil Smith / Saturday 20 June, 2009 / 23:51 GMT

    White Lightnin' deals with the feverishly fictionalised story of Jesco White, a troubled Appalachian mountain dancer who attempts to control his psychosis through the folk wisdom, traditions, and religious fervour of his West Virginian upbringing. Edward Hogg gives a standout performance in the role of Jesco, reminding me of Garret Dillahunt's sterling work in HBO's 'Deadwood' but with the electrifying draw of a leading man. The film also features a memorable soundtrack, best of all being the tracks from White's fellow demented West Virginian talent Hasil Adkins.

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