The first feature from writer and novelist Kevin del Principe is a sort of angsty kitchen-sink spin on The Talented Mr. Ripley without the brio or name-recognition actors. While the Patricia Highsmith adaptation had a Mediterranean locale, here the Lake Michigan sand dunes - nice to see them featured prominently outside of an "American Pie" comedy - are the setting for the suspense drama, in which Jack DiMercurio (Chase Fein), ventures to see his boyhood friend Andy Shelton (Hunter Cross), now an aggressive, unctuous financial advisor with his own lakeside bungalow.
There is a bitter undertone to the reunion; type-A Andy has a bad habit of humiliating people, and he wound up stealing away and marrying artist Liz (Chelsea Kurtz), whom Jack loved. Now Andy flagrantly cheats on her. Jack, meanwhile, is jobless and drifting (after a violent incident at work that may have involved a female). The interplay between the two men becomes heated - and, ultimately, Jack is left with a body of which he must dispose. But does Jack now have more of a chance with Liz?
Hints that the material may go in more of a lurid, twisted Les Diaboliques direction (is Andy really dead?) don't pan out, as the material tries to be more serious over its key protagonists and their emotional states. Actor Fein has a perpetually wounded quality reminiscent of John Cusack, and the more tantalizing part of the drama suggests that he may be more of a villain himself rather than a sad victim of circumstances. An open what-would-you-do-next type of ending does not help the material. Optional, maybe with an attraction for Great-Lakes regional collections because of the scenery.