Love Or Die Trying

Love Or Die Trying

Bruce Von Stiers

A man comes home late in the evening. His wife isn't home and there are signs that some kind of struggle has occurred. He calls the police but the two detectives who investigate the case are skeptical. Is the wife missing or did she just leave? Is she dead or holed up somewhere? That is what kickstarts the short mystery thriller film, Faithless.

Through a flashback scene, James and Kristina Conrad seem to be a happy couple. He has to go to work and she has to go show a house to a potential buyer. But that evening James comes home, finding that possible struggle I just mentioned and no Kristina.

If one person in a married couple is murdered, the spouse is often the guilty party. I don't know if it is like this in real life, but in films, on television and in books, the cops always look at the spouse as their first and primary suspect. So, the two detectives, Liddle and Starling, go at James a little hard. As a side thing, the two detectives have a bet on whether or not James killed Kristina.

It is revealed that Kristina was keeping secrets from James. She was having an affair with a guy named Ben Novack. There are a couple of flashback scenes with Kristina and Novack together.

Bit by bit, the story unfolds as to what really happened. The remnants of the struggle that James observed is explained and as James tries to piece things together he confronts Ben. But James may be harboring secrets of his own.

Patrick Lazzara played James Conrad. He also wrote the screenplay and directed and produced the film. Lazarra has a bunch of acting credits along with writing, directing and producing. I reviewed two of his previous films, Burn and Restless.

Jennifer Field played Kristina Conrad. She was in almost twenty episodes of General Hospital, had a recurring role in Roswell, New Mexico and appeared in episodes of The Old Man, Station 19 and Good Trouble.

Stephen Krahel played Ben Novack. He appeared in Hollywood Dreams and Frenchman's Flat.

Novack's wife, Michelle, was featured in one scene. Moriah N. Boone played Michelle. She starred in Blood Ties: The Missing Daughter and Sleeping With The President.

Robert Batiste was Detective Liddle. He's starred in a number of short films, including Not Who I Seem and Too Hard To Handle.

Wilson Lamont was Detective Starling. He co-starred in Welcome To Vice and Restless.

Dean Graffari and Corduroy Chapman both had minor roles in the film. plays a morgue Graffari appeared in Butt-Ugly and The Devil's Grave. Chapman was a sound mixer for films such as Battle For Pandora and Out Past Dark.

In addition to Lazzara, the film was produced by Wilson Lamont, Auriel Jimenez and Carlos M. Jimenez. Brad Rundblade was a co-producer for the film.

Carlos M. Jimenez was the cinematographer. He's worked on shows such as Bosch and American Horror Story also with several films.

Pietro Milanesi composed music for the film. In addition to helping compose music for films and television shows, he composed theme music for The Real Housewives of New York City.

The production teams for the film were Standing 8 Count Films and Los Productions in association with Yellow Van Gogh. These teams also put together the two Lazzara films I mentioned earlier, Burn and Restless.

Faithless is a really good mystery thriller. You don't know what has happened to Kristine until near the end when the layers of lies and deceit are peeled back. The film actually has a tagline that says it all, “Dying is easy. Loving is hard.”

Faithless recently premiered at the Sepulveda Screening Room in Los Angeles.

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