Anxiety, an unforgotten past, sex and love in “Steel.”
An on-air panic attack forces popular TV talk show host Daniel to confront his past. With the help of 18-year old Alexander his road to redemption begins. On the journey, Daniel will realize that making peace with his past is the only way that he could look forward to a burden-free future.
At first, it looks like a promising film. It tried to go deeper with its central theme of anxiety and depression. But until the end credits, it failed to do so. The story in itself is straight forward. Daniel (Chad Connell), a rising TV talk show host, withdrew from the world after having an on-air panic attack. Along the way, he was helped by sometimes exasperating young teen Alexander (David Cameron).
The conflict is too disappointingly simple and the melodrama will bore you at times. There’s some decent acting here and the chemistry between the Connell and Cameron will make the audience hooked to the screen. I don’t know about the lines though, too forced, too pretentious for my taste.
There are too many metaphors and thinking processes involved in the audience. So if you’re looking for just a chill watch, this film would not be it. I couldn’t say that I was not surprised by the twist in the end, but even that could not redeem the whole film.
Geek Rate
Thief Worthy (2 out of 5 stars). As an independent film goes, “Steel” is decently good. It is a very difficult story right at best and I could admire the effort of the writers to turn the story into something profound, especially its focus on mental illness. Many films in this genre will just put emphasis on the nude scenes to attract more audience but the fact that “Steel” tries to mix both the sensual scenes while discussing its central theme is a huge plus for me.
Geekgod Review 