Rebecca (Johanningmeier) runs a support group for people who have tried to commit suicide, and falls in love with Gabriel (Egglesfield), one of the members. It’s probably best to ignore the fact that she’s probably violating a lot of professional ethics, because any sins she commits are overshadowed by the fact that one of her old colleagues, Victor (Egglesfield), is now murdering people from hers, and other groups. The only clue he leaves behind are nice photobooks of all his victims claiming that he has saved them. Plus, there’s an additional wrinkle: Victor’s supposed to be dead.
The script for 100 Days to Live feels like it fell out of the bizarre world of 1990s adult thrillers, influenced by the toxic masculinity plot of Sleeping with the Enemy and the crazy-smart/just crazy antagonists that popped up after Seven. It’s easy to see this coming out in 1998 with Ashley Judd as Rebecca, and Carey Elwes under Victor’s tattooed skin. However, this midbudget drama doesn’t have quite that star power, and it definitely lacks the visual flair of that era’s overdriven and weird procedurals. But there’s a dark strand to the script that makes 100 Days to Live stand out from a lot of less aspirational twisted thrillers. The codependency of Rebecca and Victor, and the fact it begins to overshadow her relationship with Gabriel, creates a strange tension that allows writer/director Ravin Gandhi to fill out Victor’s twisted and manipulative scheme.
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This article appears in March 5 • 2021.
