As effective and good looking as Violent Ends may be, it’s just too generic to be something special.

John-Michael Powell maintains a likably low-key interest in the local flavor of his home state, but it’s small potatoes in terms of personality. His self-serious approach proves a terminal match for his crime yarn’s familiar, simplistic plotting.

This fatalistic revenge saga is so unrepentant towards its own movie-ness that its canned dialogue and clichéd story beats often present an engrossing counterpoint to its vividly authentic sense of time and place.

The cast have a decent line in "sweaty brooding" and the violence is almost Tarantino-level over-the-top - making this rather enjoyable, if unnerving at times.