Tribeca Film Festival – In writer/director Robert Machoian’s thriller The Integrity of Joseph Chambers, Joe (Clayne Crawford) is tired of just selling insurance. He ventures into the woods to learn some survival skills, or at the very least, how to hunt deer. While this film requires a lot of patience, Machoian excels at putting viewers in the shoes of Joseph Chambers, a middle-class dude eager to prove his manhood. You feel his isolation and his struggle to make decisions when everything goes terribly, terribly wrong during his little excursion.

Joe isn’t a hunter. His wife, Tess (Jordana Brewster), makes fun of him for even attempting to trek into the woods alone. She urges him to wait until he can hunt with others. Joe, however, refuses to listen.  He’s convinced there may come a day when he’s going to need to provide for his family. Yet, he doesn’t even own a rifle, and he borrows a pick-up truck and the gun from his neighbor/buddy, Doug (Carl Kennedy).

The film strikes a rather humorous tone during the first 10 minutes that Joe’s in the woods. He falls asleep in the tree stand, which he can barely climb, and then he throws rocks, imagining he’s a star pitcher in the 1991 World Series. Maybe Joe just wants to feel like he matters. However, the tone darkens suddenly when Joe accidentally kills a real survivalist (Michael Raymond-James). For the rest of the film, he struggles in deciding what to do with the body. By this point, we’re totally locked into Joe’s perspective. This film is enhanced by Peter Albrechtsen‘s haunting sound design. The sound, coupled with Oscar Ignacio Jiménez‘s cinematography, especially the wide shots and long takes, truly creates a sense of isolation. You start to wonder if Joe’s ever getting out of those woods without totally losing his mind.

The evolution of Joe’s character is a fascinating aspect of this film, too. Initially, he’s a man who acts like going deer hunting will be a breeze. He soon learns he’s ill-prepared, and that’s an understatement. If the apocalypse did happen, I don’t suspect Joe would last very long. This is the second feature Machoian and Crawford worked on together, the first being the critically acclaimed The Killing of Two Lovers. They make a good pair. In this latest feature, Crawford offers quite an emotional performance, especially in the final minutes. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, meanwhile, has a very brief role, and he makes the most of his 10 minutes of screen time.

The Integrity of Joseph Chambers won’t be for everyone. This thriller is more of a character study than anything else, but I’m certain I’ll be thinking about it in the coming days. Crawford gives a striking performance, portraying his character’s mental anguish and indecisiveness. The sound design and cinematography, though, really make this film, pushing it to another level. The sense of isolation is unsettling and distressing. Even if this film is about masculinity, it doesn’t matter your gender. You’ll feel like you’re experiencing everything from Joe’s frazzled perspective. This is a nerve-rattling film.

7 Out of 10