Inherit the Viper (2019) User Reviews

Question: Whatever Happened to Josh Hartnett?

[spookyrat1 · 6/10 · 2 April 2021]

Answer: He Inherit (ed) the Viper.

Around 15+ years ago, he was being touted about as being one of those Next Big Hollywood Things. But he seemed to keep choosing the wrong "star vehicles" (E. G. Hollywood Homicide), whilst truth be told, arguably lacking a bit in the charisma department and then appeared to depart mainstream cinema.

To my surprise he bobs up in this independent production and in my opinion is one of the best reasons to see it. Based on his work in Inherit the Viper, his future lies best, in seeking out more character - based roles, rather than star turns as a leading man.

Inherit the Viper is by no means a great film. It's a slow - burning rural noir piece, that doesn't particularly feature any really pleasant characters. Hartnett, playing Kip, the oldest of a trio of siblings with a family history of trafficking in prescription drugs, plays (arguably again), the nicest of a bad bunch. He'd really like to escape the drug trade, but family pressures, combined with a lack of employment opportunities, keep conspiring against him.

At 85 minutes running time, Inherit the Viper is by no means a lengthy film, but here's the thing; it feels longer. The pace is somewhat languid. The script, whilst lacking a certain amount of exposition in some areas, (Was it ever really made clear, what Bruce Dern's character had to do with the Conley family?) does set up an acceptably realistic twist in the denouement, that I have to admit, I didn't see coming and therefore enjoyed it, that much more. The acting is more than acceptable, with Hartnett, as mentioned, the stand - out.

Kudos to Anthony Jerjen, in his feature directorial debut, for trying something a little different. Inherit the Viper is not going to blow your socks off, and don't expect any action set pieces. But for those prepared to hang around, there is an interesting conclusion and a fine, understated performance from Hartnett, which kind of holds everything else together.

More a family drama than a crime story.

[peterp-450-298716 · 6/10 · 20 January 2020]

Josie... promise me something. Protecting this family comes first. When it's time to quit, we quit. No questions asked.

Everyone knows the principle of the "American Dream". The ideal image of a hard-working American who, regardless of his origin, can reach the top through hard work and commitment. "Inherit the Viper" shows the other side of the coin. A film about American citizens who experience the "American Nightmare". They are part of agglomerations located in remote areas where poverty prevails and survival instinct is a necessity. An additional problem in recent years in the U.S. is the opioid crisis that causes an unprecedented number of victims. This widespread addiction is the Conley family's important source of income. Apparently they inherited the business from their deceased father. Although, the storyline about what happened to him wasn't really clear to me.

"Inherit the Viper" is primarily a crime thriller in which the Conley family, consisting of sister Josie (Margarita Levieva) and her two brothers Kip (Josh "Pearl Harbor" Hartnett) and Boots (Owen "IT" Teague), try to make ends meet by running a thriving drug-dealing business somewhere in Appalachia (especially the opioid pills OxyContin) and to sell pills to the locals massively. Even though the subject lends itself to the elaboration of a solid crime story, this film is rather a family drama in which the dynamic between the different family members is central. A family triangle with opposite character traits.

Josie is the tough little cookie from the family whose numbness has reached shocking proportions. Without hesitation, she puts a freshly sold pill back in her pocket that she finds next to the body of an addicted old woman who just died. Self-interest has more priority to her than compassion for a fellow person. Hence the explanation for a later initiative she takes and which shows how numb she is. Kip is an ex-soldier. A hardened and fearless gut-eater who knows the tricks of the trade. Yet he's the one who would prefer to stop with the family business in order to build a safer future with his heavily pregnant girlfriend. And finally, you have Boots, the benjamin of the family. This impetuous teenager wants nothing more than to get into the family business as quickly as possible. Because this is still being put on hold by brother and especially his sister, it's Boots who takes an initiative. Unfortunately, things are not going the way he'd hoped.

"Inherit the Viper" isn't a masterpiece, but still it fascinates. It's a gray, dark (literally and figuratively) portrait about despair and how to survive in a run-down and soulless corner in American society. A life without a future that requires the protagonists to make unworthy decisions. No shred of compassion is shown. It's all about supporting the family. Although you feel the tension constantly and the Conley family is slowly but surely confronted with threatening situations (a police investigation is in progress resulting in an accusing finger pointing at them and revenge-seeking city dwellers who have lost someone thanks to the Conley's threaten them) there are very few action-rich or criminal scenes. This is largely compensated by the interesting interactions and the realistic appearance of the film. The most colorful role is that of Bruce Dern as the obscure, critically ill bar owner where Josie deals pills. A local character who isn't amused with the fact that corpses are piling up in his bar and whose metaphorical story actually uncovers the essence of what this film is about. And also it's an explanation of the film title. Although I am not 100% sure about that either.

The denouement managed to surprise me in a certain way. And I was also pleased to see that Josh Hartnett hasn't slipped off the grid. If you come across "Inherit the Viper" on a VOD service, I recommend to give it a chance. This dark film is worth a watch.

More reviews here: movie-freak.be

Too slow, too many tedious characters, too disjointed of a story...

[imseeg · 5/10 · 18 January 2022]

Not any good? The acting aint bad. The story aint particularly bad either, although it is all over the place, with too many characters and too many storylines to become a focussed drama.

The bad: it is simply a bit of a tedious watch. Nothing worse than getting bored...

Not so engaging

[Gordon-11 · 14 January 2020]

The story doesn't develop the background of the three siblings much, so I don't really feel for them at all. The story isn't so engaging either. I felt rather bored by it.

All star cast works with what they are given

[Ganja-Ganja · 2/10 · 17 January 2020]

I had to give it a try seeing who the leads were, terrible plot. Slow agonizing story comes to an un-climactic and unrealistic finish.

Intriguing gripping drama

[Otte1 · 6/10 · 19 November 2020]

I was pleasantly surprised when I started watching this movie. I was not expecting anything and 15 minutes into it I was interested in what would happen next. Not a fast movie or great action, but more of dark picture in the life of opioids dealing family, a subject not depicted on-screen often. The actors work with what they have, no Oscar performance but also no one that makes you cringed(FYI Josh Hartnett has the Kristen Stewart problem, has the same face regardless of the scene, but the story was written in a way that he did not have to).

The big plus of the movie is the direction. Too often movies are forgettable soon after you have watched them. This movie I will remember how it started, the middle and how it ended, which is a testament to the director.

Poison

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 5 February 2022]

Fear the Viper or inherit the viper ... there may be another title for this in the country you are hailing from ... and are watching this of course. But it seems like the viper remains ... as is the poison of said snake. Sometimes you kind of know what to expect, I reckon.

But even so, it may not mean that you can be fully prepared. I'd say this is quite predictable when it comes to the fate or where the road leads for our main characters. That being said, it is still more than decent. Even if it didn't really grab me as much as I think it had the potential to do ... especially the impact certain things are supposed to have. The acting is more than solid and the cinematography was really good too. It just felt like it was missing something special to put it over the top ...

"Are you willing to cut off an arm to save the body?"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 1 November 2020]

You have to wonder how a family this dysfunctional could have gotten as far as they did to open the story. A little more exposition would have helped, but once it gets going it doesn't really matter. I half jokingly wrote in my review of 2019's "Badland" that Bruce Dern seems to be doing his latest roles flat on his back, like in that one and "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood". Here he gets to hang out in a wheel chair while threatening bar room thugs at the point of a shotgun, so I guess he must be feeling better. I like Dern, and it's cool to see him with about a dozen projects in various stages on his IMDb character page. At eighty four, he's like the Energizer bunny.

A drug deal gone wrong is the catalyst for this story, as Kip Conley (Josh Hartnett) pulls baby brother's (Owen Teague) fat out of the fire by unloading his rifle on a couple of drug dealers about to pull a fast one. From there, sister Josie (Margarita Levieva) takes matters into her own hands to clean up the mess, leading to the sorts of unintended consequences (and one major intended one) that pretty much spells doom for her prospects. Even the sympathetic local sheriff is pretty much helpless on this case.

The picture here is pretty dark, both in tone and execution. It's also got the kind of twists you won't be expecting, lending new meaning to the term 'sibling rivalry'. Josh Hartnett lends his voice to a song over the closing credits and to my ear he didn't sound too bad. But the real winner here is the Payless Drug store that comes on screen close to a half dozen times in the picture. They probably paid for some product placement, but I have to think they got more than their money's worth.

Another worst film! Too many boring conversation and overuse scene! Avoid at all cost!

[kwenchow · 1/10 · 2 March 2020]

This film start with a woman "Josie" giving drug to another woman to take, and the woman die in the toilet scene! As turnout, this film is about three member of a Conley family(Kip, Josie, and Boots) running the drug dealer business, and Kip eventually want to shut down the business! Entire film quite slow, and full of boring conversation! The overuse of the street view and aerial view of the city scene, also make the film unwatchable! Barely intense scene is, Kip saving Boots from a bunch of drug buyers, when the drug trading gone wrong! At the end, Josie get killed! Kip retire from the drug business, but Boots still secretly running the drug business! At the very end, Boots drive away his truck and thinking about Josie! That's it! Another disappointed film!

Pretty gritty flick

[travisammons · 7/10 · 3 August 2020]

I'm basically only here to recommend the film, commend Hartnett on his excellent work here, best thing I've seen him do except maybe for THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. I BASICALLY JUST WANTED TO TELL U THIS IS FREE ON AMAZON.

You can tell whoever wrote this did not have personal experience with the opioid epidemic.

[fbpbgwch · 5/10 · 29 October 2022]

I did and this is no where near true. Some parts, the devastating losses and deaths but idk meeting a kid in a field for two bottles of pills and get handed a supposed duffel bag full of cash. First of all I don't care if those pill bottles had 100 oxy 80's each, that would still only be able 15 thousand dollars. So enough to fill a duffel bag? Nah I don't think so. The kid that got injected when he was murdered by Josie? It takes a lot longer for someone to shoot a drug and feel the effects. It's not boom, needle in arm in 1 second.

I'm still waiting for a good opioid epidemic movie that just captures the true story of it. Something about Florida's oxycontin express, the pill mills in browsed county, deaths, arrests, shady doctors. Not just the addicts of it. We need a good movie to show the full story.

This was a good try but yeah it's obvious the director/writer whoever didn't really understand this world.

Dark and visually captivating

[MisterLap · 9/10 · 15 October 2019]

Dark, visually captivating, "Inherit the viper" portrays the early stages of the opioids epidemic in the US in a way the audience, especially those living in the Appalachia, can relate to, through a good balance of storytelling and reality, tension, great performances and atmosphere. No need for shaky, effect loaded action scenes. Just a thrilling story of family and crime.

Not a single Dodge Viper in the whole thing?!

[fluffchop · 1/10 · 7 November 2021]

This movie sucked. It was bleak and boring. There wasn't a single Dodge Viper in the whole movie. Who are they trying to suck in with marketing like this. I wanted to see several Dodge Vipers being inherited by others. I was very disappointed in the whole movie.

Surprisingly Good.

[nexxoexxon · 5 February 2020]

This movie was surprising good and one of the best thriller I've seen in a long time. The ending was gripping and will lead you to all kinds of emotions. The acting between the three main character was outstanding. Hollywood these days have been making unoriginal story lines, remakes and super heroes fantasy movies which I can barely sit through an entire movie. However, I sat through this one compelled at the plot and twist. It was original and great. I'm just baffled why the rating is so low and why there isn't that much reviews. Definitely give this one a watch if you love the crime thriller genre.

Oh Josh !

[jgallo199 · 2/10 · 19 November 2020]

While Hartnett did a fine job, he should be ashamed to be associated with such a bad film !!

An investigation into the effects of the opioid crisis

[Mysterygeneration · 5/10 · 15 February 2024]

A crime thriller that explores the impact of the opioid crisis on a family of drug dealers in rural Appalachia. The film follows the Conley siblings, Kip (Josh Hartnett), Josie (Margarita Levieva), and Boots (Owen Teague), as they struggle to survive and escape their bleak situation. The film is directed by Anthony Jerjen, in his feature debut, and written by Andrew Crabtree.

Strong performances throughout the movie, particularly from Hartnett and Levieva, who effectively capture the depth and desperation of their respective roles. In addition, the movie portrays the grim reality of the opioid crisis, highlighting how it impacts not just the addicts but also the dealers, the police, and the community. The violence and ethical quandaries that come with the territory are not downplayed in the movie.

But the movie also has certain shortcomings, such a slow pace, a predictable plot, and a lack of inventiveness. The movie focuses on clichés and tropes and offers nothing fresh or unexpected for the genre. Additionally, there are sequences in the movie that drag on and don't have enough suspense or intensity. The movie's climax is particularly underwhelming since it resolves matters too neatly and conveniently while ignoring more significant problems or repercussions.

To sum up, Inherit the Viper is a passable crime thriller that addresses a timely and significant subject, but it is not a particularly noteworthy or influential movie. Although it does not stand out among other films of a similar genre, it is nonetheless worth seeing for the performances and the social satire. It gets a five out of ten from me.

Dark, Brooding and Atmospheric

[energylevel · 8/10 · 12 January 2020]

I thought this was a great movie .... Dark and atmospheric. Josh Hartnett is very good in the first thing I've seen him in for sometime.

Hard to Find A Lot Wrong

[westsideschl · 8/10 · 16 June 2020]

Hard to find anything wrong w/this movie. Script was creative/different even though drugs in an economically depressed small American town in itself isn't new, but enough twists to keep it interesting. Sets, props all authentic. Acting, for the most part was real. Dialogue simple, appropriate & to the point. Mixed feel good/not so good ending.

Payless Pharmacy

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 26 January 2020]

The film takes place in an unnamed mill town ( filmed in Birmingham, Alabama) that has seen better days. The one mill town has literary broken the backs of workers who go to the Conley family to obtain oxy. Josie Conley (Margarita Levieva) sells one to a woman who soon dies. Everyone in town knows what happened. Sheriff Kyle (Dash Mihok) has a relationship with Josie and he looks the other way. Kip Conley (Josh Hartnett) is the eldest brother with a baby on the way. Youngest brother Boots (Owen Teague) is recently introduced to the family business, as they do what they have to do to get by. However, where there are drugs there is money and there are guns. Each one of the Conleys has their own idea on how to solve the problems they caused. This leads to an unlikely climax, one that made the film.

It is a good slow-burn drama. Good characters. Everyone thinks they are a good person. The question arises if you are filled with venom, would you cut your arm off to save your body?

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

Josh Hartnett is finally back

[ascotty18 · 10/10 · 28 November 2019]

This movie really grabs you (in a good way) It's deep, dark and hooks you until the end.

A Must See Thriller.

[parasite4 · 9/10 · 5 February 2020]

Wow! I went into this with no expectations, but hopeful because I'm a fan of Josh Hartnett. This is a gripping action, drama, thriller. The acting is outstanding and the ending was unexpected. Usually these kind of movies are ruined by a dull, bland ending. Not this one! Don't listen to anyone's reviews, not even mine, just see it for yourself...

Solid movie great characters

[vaneyndhovenwj · 9/10 · 12 January 2020]

Great performances by the full cast. Really surprised to see it under a score of 6.

Really good

[fitgirl-66677 · 10/10 · 28 February 2020]

Really enjoyed this! Lots of twists . Kept me on my toes. The sister is very twisted

great

[ops-52535 · 10/10 · 11 January 2020]

Its a grizzly, cold, wet, grey and dark journey into the poor district of birmingham alabamas, drug addicted neighbourhoods. its a film about the fight to survive in a criss crossed, life and death reality, in the crusade of getting the next hit, to protect ones drug businesses, and where nobody, not even family members cant or wont trust eachother in the fight for the next high and in the race for the dollars.

its a film that really hurts to watch, and the realism of it all are grueling and makes you think why,why.....?

as a production what gave me the infectious sting to follow this film are the score. it gives this flick a mesmerizing touch of the suspence, and the film would nothave been the same without it, bravissimo. the filmography and use of light and dark along with a great job from the sound department gives you a thrilling ride you wont forget easily.

there are few words spoken, and most of the dialouges are of the desperate kind, that make a demand on the actors to act well to succeed, and they do.

so if you like to delve into other peoples misery, then ''inherit the viper'' is a good choice.i may also say that this will become one of the best within this genre this year, like ''back fork'' impressed me last year. have a look the grumpy old man says, its good.

What happens when you inherit the family business...and the business is.....

[bluetulip-84703 · 10/10 · 15 November 2021]

Gritty-film about drugs/family legacy and a desire to get out. Some can and others can't. Get a realistic look at the ugliness of selling pills in the poor areas of the south. John Harnett is excellent as the older brother who gets it. A definite watch.