Brigham City (DVD, 2002)

Mormon filmmaker Richard Dutcher's (GOD'S ARMY) variation on the small-town murder-mystery is a somber, bleak drama that deftly balances hopelessness and optimism to tell a deeply moving tale. Set in the innocent Mormon town of Brigham, Utah, the story focuses on Wes Clayton (Dutcher), a weary widower who is both the town's sheriff and religious leader. When Wes and his young deputy, Terry Woodruff (Matthew A. Brown), discover the mutilated body of a woman from out of town, Wes tries to keep the news under wraps. But when another body is discovered just days later, word gets out, throwing the previously quiet town into a state of disorder. Working together with retired deputy Stu (Wilford Brimley), secretary Peg (Carrie Morgan), and FBI agent Meredith (Tavya Patch), Wes searches for clues that will put an end to the incomprehensible nightmare. When the puzzle is eventually solved, Wes is forced to confront an evil he never thought would visit his town.Dutcher's second feature-length film confronts the issue of lost innocence versus gained wisdom in a strikingly honest and original way. What makes BRIGHAM CITY an even greater achievement is Dutcher's ability to use his potentially limiting trappings (religion, genre) to his advantage, resulting in a film that is heartbreakingly universal in soul and spirit.