My earliest mention of stunt professional Nikolas Pelekai on this website was back in 2016 in the earlier years of The Hit List column. Having built a career that began in 2012 with live stunt shows and Cirque-style performances before heading into film and TV, that on-set experience has since positioned him amply to take a stab at directing his first feature, Penance.
Here’s the thing: Penance is an independently-produced action thriller made for less than what it looks. The first ten minutes alone invites you to a spectacle alone that’s worthy of big-budget bravado – chacteristic of a larger effort built on the kind of teamwork that working in stunts can cultivate, and we’re talking about a cast prominently comprised of stunt performers.
The roster is led by Stephano Rodriguez and Travis Gomez in the respective roles of Steph and Trav, foster brothers who’ve procured themselves a notable skillset as ex-mercenaries. Experts in killing and matters of torture that would make the average tough guy squeal. Exuding their talents and incumbent lethality in the first ten minutes, our protagonists successfully manage to raid the organizational framework and nightclub allure of human trafficker, Santiago (Bobby Hernandez), whilst in search of Trav’s sister.
What follows is utter catastrophe in a mission that goes lopsided resulting in brutal tortue, leaving his sister dead, and Trav deaf and unable to speak. Three years later and with vengeance in mind, the two find themselves new digs to regroup and resupply for their next assault. With two detectives hot on their trail while investigating the death of another young woman, however, it won’t be long before their mission reaches a climax as brutal as the shocking twist that unravels in the final act.
Rodriguez and Gomez are joined opposite Hernandez who lays thick on screen one of the saltiest characters I’ve seen him play in the years I’ve been journaling. The cast also lists actor KC Coy who is joined by stuntwoman and actress Chelsea Goldsmith, as well as Alan Ulises Silva Garcia, Steven Rodriguez and Juan Flaco Reyes, all stunt professional here in key casting roles.
Where most indie actioners bring slews of freshman, phoned-in, or otherwise low-bar acting, Pelekai proffers a crop of talents capable of invoking their abilities in both drama and action. The performances are more than adequate at times, and carry consistently with the film’s caliber of taut action and drama, and Pelekai’s cinematography never lets up, from the fight scenery to the smooth night time driving shots.
Complimentary to this is a script by our director along with co-writer Jacob Stauff, and a creative vision that leans hard into dark, sinuous psychological intrigue. The action sequences are ebulliently crafted, evocative of many of the seminal practice fights I’ve seen notably from the stylings of Pelekai and a lot of performers in Atlanta on social media up to now. The film’s opening action sequence alone is a ten-minute exposition in unyielding violence, one worthy of its own shortfilm.
Par for the course with Penance is a level of violence punctuated throughout much of the choreography, coupled with moments of torment that firmly push the envelope in ways that leave your jaw hanging; I’ll have you know that this movie is only the second I’ve seen where one poor schmuck gets stabbed in the ass with a crowbar. It ain’t for shits and gigs, and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t a “holy fuck” moment at the time, and there are times when the violence feels so tangible that it borders on sensory overload. In some ways, to this end, that’s kind of the point.
Certain technical aspects in the film’s post-production did make the audio difficult to acclimate to at times during my own screening. I hear post-production was a little brisk than preferred as Pelekai and his team worked tenaciously to meet the deadline applied for its festival premiere, and so there are some nitpicks in the film’s playback that will be factor for some critics.
Beyond these and other aspects of Penance in its creation, it’s feasible to give credit to the talents that made this film possible under some extraordinary circumstances. Between Gomez who had to have surgery at one point during production, to other actors reworking schedules for other actors in accordance with their stunt careers, Penance culminates a humble, rewarding triumph in the indie-action arena. To add, the film stands exemplary in its spotlight of black and Hispanic visibility in entertainment, something which I value as a film critic, and as a citizen of a country in a very precarious situation on certain matters of representation.
I’m especially proud of Gomez who once popped on my radar as part of ENSO Productions way back when. As far as lead action-actors go, it’s great seeing him come this far, and with a filmmaker in Pelekai to help usher in a new generation of stunt performers in the director’s chair alongside the Chad Stahelskis and David Leitchs, the Kensuke Sonomuras and Heo Myung-haengs of our time.
Having followed Pelekai on social media and bearing witness to the behind-the-scenes snippets of whatever he had been working on this year, I was immediately pulled in and couldn’t wait to learn more. Penance marks the start of a new and deserving career for him, and with a keener eye on the particulars, I’m excited to see what he pulls off next.
Penance is precisely the kind of movie that my website aims to cover, and with a filmmaker in Pelekai that falls directly in my purview of coverage. It’s a movie that plays firmly on its strengths as an action drama thriller with a formidable stunt framework, and so if you love the kind of independently-produced cinematic action and drama that aims high in caliber, that pulls no punches and stays the course in fast, furious and unflinching fashion, make Penance a priority. You’ll thank me later.
Penance enjoyed its World Premiere for the twentieth edition of Fantastic Fest.
