Director – Samuel L. Fronsman (Hang in There)
Starring – Adam Joseph Turner (Double Walker, Wanna Play A Game), Keith Migra (The Melon Heads: House of Crow), The Hunting), and Sofia Bianchi (The Other Side, Nightmares Unleashed)
Release Date – 2025
Rating – 3.5/5
I’m often asked to review horror, thrillers, exploitation, and sci-fi flicks with most of the films, obviously, being horror. I love my job and I love watching everything sent my way. Even if I don’t like the film, I still love seeing all the hard work the cast and crew put into the project. However, it’s not often that someone reaches out for me to review something that’s not from the before mentioned genres.
A few weeks ago I was sent Samuel L. Fronsman’s In the Hands of Fate to review. I agreed to check it out and after spending a little time looking over the poster for the crime film I thought that I wouldn’t like it. That just proves you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover because I absolutely loved it. It was a bit too long but I still had a lot of fun with it. I want to take a moment to thank Sam Fronsman for sending this one over!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a hired gun for a local crime boss who is tasked with killing one of his pushers. He does so but leaves a loose end in the form of a female junkie. He lets her go if she promises to keep her mouth shut. However, she follows him back to his boss and steals a large sum of money. As they all scramble to find who stole it so they can kill them, she visits an old friend she met in rehab who happens to be clean now and part of a cult. She tricks her into going with her so the cult can use the money to expand. **Spoiler Alert**
In the Hands of Fate is nothing like I thought it would be. It essences, it’s two films connected by a a few characters and their actions. In fact, the film could have taken the Tarantino approach and split itself up into two films rather than one film over two hours long. Regardless, of the film’s length, I seriously enjoyed it. It’s a lot of fun and some minor changes would make this one damn near perfect.
The acting in this one is a bit uneven. The performances are not bad but some of the cast clearly has inexperience. This made some of the dialogue feel forced or fall flat. Aside from these instances, I loved the characters and how far the cast went to bring them to life.
The story for this one is such a wild ride and something the viewer may not expect. It starts out with a humble crime beginning with a small time crime boss sending out people to clean up some messes. However, it eventually leads to a cult with inner turmoil and a conspiracy to remove their leader of power. I loved how far out this story branches but it could have easily been two films. An indie crime flick that clocks in over 2 hours is a bit absurd.
Finally, the film has several death scenes but they are nothing memorable or exciting. They use some blood and computer generated visuals but that is the extent of it. Someone looking for a big body count or gore will be very disappointed. Overall, In the Hands of Fate might be a lot for someone looking for a generic crime film to take in. However, if you are looking for something different with a big story to tell then I highly recommend checking this one out. I truly enjoyed it.
