“With intense performances from a cast of emerging young stars, AMERICAN BULLY is a haunting and relevant film that forces us to confront the harrowing and potent menace that lurks just under the surface — and deep in the heart of darkness — of any town.”
AMERICAN BULLY follows the lives of seven high school students on, what starts out to be, a typical day. When an isolated high school altercation gets one of the students Brandon (Matt O’Leary) suspended, events quickly escalate. The group takes their anger out on Eric (Jonathan Halyalkar), an Indian teen mistaken to be Middle-Eastern. They kidnap him and take him to an abandoned house, threatening to execute him on video. The film leaves you wondering, “WTF just happened?!”
Matt plays Brandon, who has been affected by 9/11, terrorism, and the war in Iraq. He is the leader of the group and the one who initiates the hate crime. It is an interesting study on why a small time youth would commit heinous crimes. Matt’s performance is phenomenal and intense. He makes you extremely dislike Brandon for his ignorance, fowl language, and hatred towards Eric. Yet, at the same time, you are forced to wonder how much he truly was to blame.
Matt Screen Time
Majority of the film. He plays the lead role.
Awards
- Winner of Best Screenplay -- Dave Rodriquez & Zak Meyers
- 2009 Long Island Film Expo
- Winner for Best Director -- Dave Rodriquez
- 2009 Method Festival
- Winner of The Golden Crescent Award for Best Feature
- 2009 Charleston International Film Festival
- Official Selection
- 2009 HBO New York International Film Festival
- Official Selection
- 2010 Anaheim International Film Festival
- Winner for Best Picture (Feature Film)
- Winner for Best Feature Length Screenplay -- Dave Rodriquez & Zak Meyers
- Winner for Best Actor in a Feature Film -- Marshall Allman
- Nominated for Best Actor in a Feature Film -- Matt O’Leary
- Nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film -- Jonathan Halyalker
- Nominated for Best Actress in a Feature Film -- Brooke Johnson
- Nominated for Best Director in a Feature Film -- Dave Rodriquez
- 2011 PWFF Grand Jury Awards
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