It's likely safe to say that Hariharasudhen Nagarajan's narrative feature debut was never destined to play at the multiplexes. It's the kind of indie drama that we seldom see in a movie theater, storytelling from Anghus Houvouras steeped in familiarity for an American society that has become numbed by the frequency of stories such as this one. 

This is a quieter film, a festival-destined film likely to find its audience in the isolation of a home. It begins as a film flipped on in the background, though it's engaging story and starkness draws you in and makes you pay attention. 

It starts with Leonard (Nick Giedris), a father whose life is destroyed. His daughter, Paula (Sophia Dawson at age 16; Arielle James, age 6) has been killed in a school shooting. He's not moving on. His wife has moved out and therapy has become a cyclical nothingness. Then, we meet Gerald (Ben Burton), the school resource officer who might have stopped it and should have tried to stop it except for one simple problem. He froze. 

Tether isn't some cinematic redemption song. We're not here to hear violins playing and to experiences miracles happening. There's something darker here, though infinitely more honest. It's not a surprise that these two men will cross paths. It's perhaps a surprise that Tether has the guts to portray something honest here with Giedris capturing Leonard's desperate search for something, anything that will make going on make sense. Burton's Gerald is more aching, at least for me, as a man whose failure to respond has led to his being set aside. Even if he heals, we don't see much hope here because there are some mistakes that can't be corrected, some decisions with consequences that ripple forever, and times when brokenness simply can't be repaired. 

A film like Tether is hard to make. It's a story we know so well that it's hard to commit to sitting down with it once again. Most films with a similar theme either play it soft or exploit the storyline. Tether doesn't do either one. Nagarajan directs with a bias here and that's not a bad thing. In fact, maybe it's necessary. 

Lensing by Nick Walker is effective throughout, the storyline's starkness embodied by a camera that refuses to look away. Daryl John Hannan's original score effectively communicates the sense of isolation and quiet trauma that lingers. 

This is not a perfect film. It's a lower-budgeted film and there are definitely times throughout that it shows. However, there's something inspired about a filmmaker choosing to tackle such a deep, meaningful, and necessary film with his debut. It's a debut that hopefully promises we'll see more from Nagarajan. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic