River’s Edge

Based on the horrifying real-life murder of a young California girl, this powerful portrait of deadly, disaffected teens stars Keanu Reeves (The Matrix) in his first feature film leading role, Crispin Glover (Back to the Future), lone Skye (Say Anything), Daniel Roebuck (The Fugitive) and Dennis Hopper (Blue Velvet). On the bank of a river lies the naked body of a brutally murdered young girl. At the nearby high school, dull-eyed Samson (Roebuck) brags to Matt (Reeves) and his friends about how he killed her. Drunk and stoned, the doubting teens trudge to the river and discover that he isn’t lying. And oddly, they decide to protect Samson behind a loyal wall of secrecy. Tormented with guilt, a conscience-stricken Matt questions their silence… and suddenly finds himself in a troubling position: should he do what he thinks is right, or should he keep quiet and live with this demon for the rest of his life? Cult director Tim Hunter (Twin Peaks), who also wrote the 1979 teens-in-revolt classic Over the Edge, helmed this haunting, fearless, and disturbing tale about disillusioned youth that hits as hard today as it did 40 years ago. (Dir. by Tim Hunter, 1986, USA, 99 mins., Rated R)