THE INTEGRITY OF JOSEPH CHAMBERS

2023 / 96 min / color

Joe (played by Clayne Crawford) has settled into a quiet life. He works as an insurance salesman and spends most of his free time with his family. But one morning he wakes up before dawn and decides to go out hunting alone. His wife clearly doesn’t like the idea: she considers it irresponsible, nothing but an attempt to prop up his male ego — particularly considering that Joe has no experience and no hunting gear. Undeterred, Joe borrows a shotgun from a neighbor and sets off on his manly adventure. Walking alone through the forest, he begins to experience a range of often contradictory emotions — his initial enthusiasm turning to weariness and then to growing anxiety. He doesn’t yet realize that his spontaneous decision to head out on this journey could have a major impact on his life. Director Robert Machoian keeps dialogue to a minimum, building an unsettling atmosphere primarily through sound and image. The mood of The Integrity of Joseph Chambers has been compared by critics to one of the classics of survival cinema, John Boorman’s Deliverance (1972).