December Ends

Directed by collegiate Lee Toland Krieger at the tender age of 21, December Ends unfurls as a coming-of-age drama but grows increasingly taut and suspenseful as the narrative progresses. The picture follows Chris (Josh Janowicz, an adolescent Manhattanite whose world crumbles when he loses his mom to an early death. Chris makes the fateful decision to support his dad and himself by dropping out of school and working as many hours as possible, but in time, his dad succumbs to the throes of intoxication, and the dishwater dull bookstore job engenders a longing for something more thrilling. Chris finds it in the form of a job as a bicycle courier, running illegal drugs to posh clients in the city. Yet he fails to anticipate the inherent risks attached to working for the downward-spiraling (and increasingly irrational) addict Hayden (Justin Matthews) - or the explosive complications that will arise when Hayden's sexy girlfriend (Alex Thayer) begins to fall for him.