PUTTY HILL is the Mavericks:International film that the most people have wanted to discuss with me. This is probably because it hits on something everyone has felt. Not everyone has been a drug dealing inmate, a marathon runner, a bank robber, a war correspondent, or inherited an island. Everyone does deal with the death of people close to them. The community in PUTTY HILL suffers through many hardships; the accidental overdose of a young man is just the latest. These people are shown spending two days mourning before returning to the other worries of their lives. Matthew Porterfield has captured the characters' mixture of desire to speak what is on their mind with the anxiety of expressing themselves and pain over what has happened. In solo interviews there is a sense of unconquerable despair. As the group comes together they are able to put on a brave face and honour Cory through karaoke. Powerful from start to finish.
