Read @ Joe’s

Title: Listen Carefully (2024) Director: Ryan Barton-Grimley Writer: Ryan Barton-Grimley Studio: RBG Films // Clumsy Tiger Productions IMDb Plot: When troubled assistant bank manager Andy McNeary’s baby daughter goes missing, he must follow the instructions of a mysterious voice on the other end of a baby monitor to save her before she disappears, and his life is ruined forever. Joe Says: Listen Carefully is a fever dream of anxiety and stress acted out like a lo-fi morality play.

Listen Carefully is a race-against-the-clock thriller that confronts a horrific fear relatable to all new parents. Written, directed, and starring Ryan Barton-Grimley, Listen Carefully is a fever dream of anxiety and stress acted out like a lo-fi morality play.

Barton-Grimley (aka RBG) has cleverly created a tale grabbing the fears and dreams of all working class parents – parenthood, job security, financial advancement, marriage woes – and combining them into a boiling crime drama of thievery and dread. This is the tale of an assistant bank manager who sprints to recover his missing infant daughter from nefarious agents. But this bank manager is not squeaky clean and his carefully laid plans smash apart like a car crash.

Andy (Barton-Grimley) is the bank manager who possesses a few too many secrets – secrets that are close to exposure when a voice from the baby monitor makes the worst announcement possible. Andy’s infant daughter is missing and Andy needs to pay up. Andy must run through DTLA collecting money; more importantly he is running from his dreams.

RBG and cinematographer Sean Ayers do a lot with a little. Listen Carefully jumps between sets and outdoor locations as well as within Andy’s waking dreams. Paranoia builds as ethereal voice pressures Andy, who teeters between a nervous breakdown and wreaking havoc with a hammer. The whole movie is both sinister and relatable.

And yet.

As an indie feature, Listen Carefully tries to accomplish too much. Juggling the parental drama, the crime thriller, and the workplace dark comedy, Listen Carefully becomes unhinged at times, jumping between grooves instead of jamming to just one. RBG can set the scene magnificently, but struggles in closing one out – a theme that carries through to the movie’s slightly unsatisfactory ending.

All of the elements for a successful – and highly suspenseful – thriller are present in this nicely shot movie. Andy, however, needed to grow. Instead he merely wallows. His tears are not properly shared with the audience. Justice is not reckoned. Fortunately, RGB’s tight little neo-noir thriller has just enough style to make this an easy, enjoyable view. Or, at least, something to listen to.