The Hottest State is the story of William, played by Mark Webber (Storytelling), an up and coming young actor in New York City who meets the unassuming Sarah, played by Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace), one night at a local bar. There's an immediate attraction. As he walks her home that night and pulls out a cigarette she tells him not to smoke. "Why?" he asks, curious. She answers "Because I might want to kiss you." William is nervous, emotional and bracingly honest. Sarah, who has just moved from Connecticut to pursue her dreams of being a singer, is quiet, emotionally reserved and detached. As they get closer, his growing excitement is matched by her growing fears.
After a hypnotic and sexually charged week together in Mexico, William stays to film a movie while Sarah returns to New York. When William gets back he immediately senses something is not right. Sarah becomes distant and increasingly annoyed at William's attention. Soon the bomb is dropped. "I came to New York to be free." It is the beginning of the end.
Already scarred by his estranged father (played by Ethan Hawke) who left him when he was just a boy and unable to reason with losing the one good thing in his life, William begins a tragic descent into desperation and despair. His behavior becomes increasingly chaotic and manic, climaxing with one of the most uncomfortable answering machine message scenes the screen has seen since Swingers.
The Hottest State is a story of first love and heartbreak but it's also the story of a wounded young boy searching for a father he never knew. Both Webber and Moreno have a unique and intense chemistry that quickly builds and falls while Hawke does a masterful job of letting his actors control each frame.
After a hypnotic and sexually charged week together in Mexico, William stays to film a movie while Sarah returns to New York. When William gets back he immediately senses something is not right. Sarah becomes distant and increasingly annoyed at William's attention. Soon the bomb is dropped. "I came to New York to be free." It is the beginning of the end.
Already scarred by his estranged father (played by Ethan Hawke) who left him when he was just a boy and unable to reason with losing the one good thing in his life, William begins a tragic descent into desperation and despair. His behavior becomes increasingly chaotic and manic, climaxing with one of the most uncomfortable answering machine message scenes the screen has seen since Swingers.
The Hottest State is a story of first love and heartbreak but it's also the story of a wounded young boy searching for a father he never knew. Both Webber and Moreno have a unique and intense chemistry that quickly builds and falls while Hawke does a masterful job of letting his actors control each frame.