South of Heaven is a 2021 American crime film directed by Aharon Keshales and co-written by Keshales, Navot Papushado, and Kai Mark. The film stars Jason Sudeikis, Evangeline Lilly, Mike Colter, Shea Whigham, Jeremy Bobb, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Michael Paré and Amaury Nolasco, and follows a recently paroled man (Sudeikis) whose plans to marry his terminally ill fiancée (Lilly) are halted by a corrupt parole officer (Whigham) and a local crime boss (Colter). It was released in the United States on October 8, 2021, by RLJE Films, to mixed reviews.
Contents
Cast
Jason Sudeikis as Jimmy Ray
Evangeline Lilly as Annie Ray
Mike Colter as Whit Price
Shea Whigham as Officer Schmidt
Jeremy Bobb as Frank
Thaddeus J. Mixon as Tommy Price
Michael Paré as Joey
Amaury Nolasco as Manny
Jaime Zevallos as Julio
Greg Hill as Sam
Rupert Reyes as a priest
Tina Parker as a parole panel woman
Production
In November 2019, it was announced Jason Sudeikis and Evangeline Lilly had joined the cast of the film, then titled Till Death, with Aharon Keshales directing from a screenplay by Keshales, Navot Papushado and Kai Mark. In January 2020, it was announced Mike Colter, Shea Whigham, Jeremy Bobb, Michael Paré and Amaury Nolasco had joined the cast of the film.
Filming occurred in Texas in March 2020. The film cost $3 million and was shot in 25 days.
Release
The film was released in the United States on October 8, 2021, by RLJE Films. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 44 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "For those willing to suspend belief, Jason Sudeikis and Evangeline Lily may make this descent into gruesome violence slightly less hellish, but South of Heaven is no promised land." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. It won five of seven nominations at the AFIN International Film Festival: Best Feature Film, Best Director for Keshales, Best Actor for Sudeikis (Whigram was also nominated), Best Actress for Lilly, and Best Young Artist for Mixson, in addition to being nominated for Best Ensemble Cast.