RATING: A

Well Go USA presents a Rattler Films/Highland Film Group/Thomasville Pictures/Andrew Stevens Entertainment production in association with BondIt Media Capital and Eyevox Entertainment. Directed by Matt Sukkar. Produced by Andrew Stevens, Matt Sukkar, and Hicham Bekarine. Written by Carlo Bernard; based on the novel by Victor Gischler. Cinematography by Alejandro Mejia. Edited by J. Xavier Velasco.

Stars Duke Nicholson, Stephen Dorff, Tiffany Haddish, Billie Lourd, Devon Ross, with Julia Fox, and William H. Macy. 

The titular rookie is about to have the worst night of his life in this thriller written by the creator of the hit series Narcos, with a great cast involved. 

Toby Sawyer is the rookie deputy in a small town in Texas. When Chris Krueger calls Toby for an emergency, he heads to a street where the body of a local, Luke Jordan, has been found. Krueger asks Toby to watch the body until fellow deputy Banks arrives. The time takes its toll on Toby, and he leaves briefly to see Rose, a young woman he has been seeing on the side, despite being married to Doris. When he returns, Luke’s body goes missing and his life slowly begins to spiral. 

During his search for the body, Toby comes across a shipping container where he discovers a group of illegal immigrants from Mexico. He frees the group, but only on the promise that they go back home without any issue. That is just the tip of the iceberg when his wife, Doris, leaves Toby as she is tired of living a humdrum life, also leaving their 6-month-old son, Toby Jr. When Toby leaves his son with Rose, he decides to fully investigate everything as he is followed and also framed for the death of Luke, uncovering a conspiracy that will rock this town forever. 

Photographer Matt Sukkar makes an amazing feature film debut here with the story of a part-time rookie deputy who only had one job. And he messes that job up. And then has the worst night of his life when it all derails. Based on the novel by Victor Gischler, Carlo Bernard, the creator of the hit series Narcos, writes a slow burn that soon becomes more than a punch to the gut, but a massive beatdown, both literally and figuratively. 

Duke Nicholson is wonderfully cast as Toby, our titular deputy. We see him struggle with his new job, and all he had to do was watch a dead body. But, bored out of his mind, he goes about taking a break to canoodle with local Rose, played by Devon Ross, which leads to his losing the body. Add to the fact that he’s been framed for the murder of the local, leading to the dead man’s brother hunting him down. Add the discovery of illegal immigrants in a shipping container, which in turn reveals a trafficking ring. On top of that, his wife Doris, played by Billie Lourd, leaves him as she sees him as a complete failure, leaving him with their six-month-old son. 

Nicholson is joined by a veteran cast that shows different personalities among their characters. William H. Macy’s Chief Krueger at times feels like his iconic Frank Gallagher of Shameless if he were a reformed lawman. Stephen Dorff’s Deputy Banks shows once again why Dorff can be one of the biggest badasses on screen, as he was the one who was supposed to pick up the body and goes off on Toby when it goes missing. 

As for Tiffany Haddish’s Deputy Jackson, it is a welcome departure from her usual comic shtick, but there is one scene where Haddish and Nicholson are chatting in the police station, and it is a welcome break from the serious nature of the film and quite funny. As for Billie Lourd, the daughter of late icon Carrie Fisher, she plays Doris as a very spiteful wife who only cares about money from the looks of things. Devon Ross’ Rose is a young woman Toby has a fling with, but also becomes reliable when she watches his son but wants something more, and it’s not Toby himself, but a better life for herself. 

There is plenty of action in the film that shows Toby may not be your stereotypical action hero. He’s a normal man who knows some stuff and only uses what he knows when he needs to use it. We see him get a massive beatdown, only to later retaliate in the film. There are plenty of shootouts as well, and everything leads to one of the most shocking twists and revelations involving everything that happens and how Bernard’s script wisely connects it all. 

The Deputy is a great slow-burn thriller that becomes a literal and figurative beatdown in the second half, and Duke Nicholson rightfully carries the film. Add some excellent support from William H. Macy, Stephen Dorff, Devon Ross, Billie Lourd, and a more serious Tiffany Haddish and you have an excellent feature film debut from Matt Sukkar. 

The film will be released in select theaters and on Digital on September 25.