Gun control is a hot button issue in this country, and it’ll probably be that way for the next hundred years without a clear resolution. And while I’m glad Hollywood has for the most part been keeping a wide berth around films that center on school shootings, the upcoming teen drama Sins of Our Youth is bound to get people uncomfortable in one way or another. Deadline reports it already has a full cast, including Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class), Joel Courtney (Super 8), and former Brat Packer Ally Sheedy, and will begin filming soon. So we’ll know sooner rather than later just what kind of reaction the film will get.
Sins of Our Youth will be directed by Gary Entin, based on a screenplay written by his twin brother Edmund Entin. (The duo worked on this year’s comedy Geography Club.) It is being produced by former Republican House Rep-turned-film producer Michael Huffington through his Huffington Pictures. Beyond the previously mentioned stars, the cast will also include Mitchell Musso (Hannah Montana), Grant Harvey (The Neighbors), Bridger Zadina (Terri), as well as former X-Factor contestant Dani Knights .
While the actual roles haven’t been disclosed, the film will revolve around four teenage boys who change their lives for the worse when they accidentally kill another young boy while off shooting assault rifles. If they just went to the police and confessed their crimes, this wouldn’t be a very interesting movie, so of course they resort to different tactics. Fearful that they’ll spend the rest of their lives in prison, or worse, the boys attempt to hide their crime, which only leads to more dangerous situations.
This isn’t exactly the most original plot, as most murders in movies see some form of cover-up. But it’s actually a similar storyline to two of my all-time favorite films (because I’m a mental masochist that way): David Gordon Green’s George Washington from 2000, and Jacob Aaron Estes’ 2004 drama Mean Creek, both of which contained the highly depressing aftereffects of a child’s death. But by adding guns to the equation, Sins of Our Youth hopefully won’t reflect the times too heavily.
Till is having a huge year, about to appear in Robert Luketic’s corporate thriller Paranoia and the adventure comedy Wet and Reckless. He’ll be reprising his role of Havok in X-Men: Days of Future Past as well as starring in screenwriter David Hayter’s directorial debut, the horror Wolves.
Courtney will take on the role of Tom Sawyer in Jo Kastner’s adaptation Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn later this year and will appear in the Stephen King adaption Mercy from director Peter Cornwell. He’ll co-star with Isabelle Fuhrman in both Giorgio Serafini’s wistful drama The Between and in Kevin Connolly’s Cuban Missile Crisis-set drama Dear Eleanor.
Sheedy, while far from the heyday of The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire, is still kicking it, and can be seen in Alfredo De Villa’s comedy Fugly!, which released earlier this year.
Sins of Our Youth is set to begin principal photography this week in and around Las Vegas.
