Brian Torro (Sean Dennison) is a liar. He's also a multi-millionaire and a self-described genius.

Torro has set up Averadyne, a fake environmental company set up in England to take advantage of environmental laws put in place after the 1997 Kyoto Accords. Torro has created quite the extravagant life based solely upon his own B.S. and his ability to turn it into a corporate venture. He has a beautiful and extremely intoxicating (or is that intoxicated?) girlfriend, Cally (Caitlyn Musgrove), and lives happily off the ignorance and stupidity of others. One day, one of his suckers, 'er clients (Joe Reed), discovers his con and blackmails him with the demand that he come up with an extraordinary amount of money in an extraordinarily short amount of time. With his right hand-man, Dillipeck (Mark Petersen), by his side he sets out to find some dirt on his client before it's too late and his extravagant world comes crashing down.

Co-written and directed by Aaron Moorhead when he was only 19-years-old, A Glaring Emission is a clever (at times too clever for its own good) and darkly comical journey through the corporate side of environmentalism and the greed that even this seemingly well intended film can manifest.

Sean Dennison, whom some might remember from his appearances on the 2002-2003 television series Ocean Ave., makes for a charismatic con artist somewhat reminiscent of Barry Pepper's underrated turn in 2010's Casino Jack. Caitlyn Musgrove is the film's real revelation as his vacuous, intoxicating girlfriend.

The film is nicely shot by D.P. Chris Hill, who gives the film a surprising brightness and clarity given its modest sub-six figure production budget with Seth Woodard's original score adding a complementary blend of comic undertones and faux suspense.

The film's mature subject matter is somewhat hindered by the mostly younger cast, at times leaving the film with the feeling of being a student theatrical production. While the comical touches certainly help, it's hard to escape the feeling that the film's subject matter is simply a bit too meaty for the assembled cast. Penned by Moorhead with Andrew J. Preston, one gets the distinct sense that in the hands of a more experienced cast this film would have been a more emotionally resonant and even funnier production.

Not surprisingly given his obvious gift for constructing a shot and visualizing a shot forward, Moorhead is now working in cinematography in Los Angeles with multiple projects completed and in place since completing A Glaring Emission. Moorhead has created a promising, well scripted film revealing a gift for blending imagery with the written word.

For more information on A Glaring Emission, visit the film's website.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic