Mean Creek

From a first-time writer/director and a promising group of young actors comes a chilling story that probes the moral dilemmas teens face in the pressure cooker of 21st century society. Jacob Aaron Estes' MEAN CREEK turns the classic tale of an American bully on its head. The movie is set in a small Oregon town where shy Sam (Rory Culkin, another talented member of that family) confesses to his protective older brother Rocky that he is getting pummeled daily by the towering school bully George. Together they plan the perfect payback, inviting George on a birthday river trip tailor-made to end in the bully's humiliation. Rocky's friends Clyde and Marty as well as Sam's budding girlfriend Millie also join the journey. Some of the crew, however, almost immediately have misgivings. Seeing George in a new light, as a lonely kid desperate for friendship and attention, Sam wants to call the whole thing off. But the boat and the plot are already in motion, and no one can foresee the surprises and accidents that are to come.