Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Thrust Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 9, 2023

Co-writer/director Victor Bonacore has a mission with “Thrust,” looking to make a throwback endeavor celebrating the ways of “Cinema of Transgression,” when young filmmakers pursued attention through hostile features filled with dark comedy and ghastly imagery, working very hard to offend viewers. What he actually has with “Thrust” is an effort that resembles dozens of Troma Entertainment releases, saddled with a low budget, amateur actors, backyard locations, and a dream to make a righteous mess, trusting the power of a feminist perspective to keep the picture together. There’s a push made for man-crushing entertainment featuring an epic journey across a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but Bonacore can’t get the movie going, and he has no idea how to end it.

In the future, a female uprising has been organized, with participants aiming to get rid of most men, looking to slaughter evil males while allowing “the good ones” to survive as slaves. Aloe (Erin Brown) has managed to get away from her abusive boyfriend, with Dirtbag Mike (Michael Shershenovich) marked for death, soon escaping from confinement, free to pursue revenge against the woman who put him away. Aloe reunites with her lover Vera (Allison Egan), with the pair planning to acquire a weapon and take out Dirtbag Mike themselves, tasked with crossing a land populated with dangerous types, looking to find the elusive Roe (Brandy Noir) and accept a donation from her stockpile of bullets.

“Thrust” doesn’t have a budget to fully realize its bombed-out world of male supremacy, with Bonacore mostly working with abandoned buildings and open fields to bring his fantasy to life. Cinematic qualities are limited as well, with the HD-shot feature reinforcing the production’s limited resources, putting pressure on the screenplay (by Bonacore and Brown) to deliver something interesting to hold attention. There’s a germ of an idea with the final days of men, exploring a world when such problems are eliminated by force, giving females their own nation to govern, which, for this tale, creates a splintered society of punk-branded gangs, including Mother Earth (Linnea Quigley) and her Dirty Dogs. Also encountered are the Ringworms, a pro-wrestling camp, and Scary Mary, who maintains order inside an old movie theater.

Aloe and Vera don’t share a pulse-pounding mission to collect a weapon, with the writing spacing out adventures, bloating the run time to an astonishing 119 minutes, which is a good 50 minutes longer than this feature needs to be. Bonacore tries for eroticism, with Aloe and Vera lovers, taking time to showcase their passions and bodies for the camera. A lot of fetish material is present as well, especially with Scary Mary and a visit to the Toe Jammers, a roller-skating gang who reward their “good one” by allowing him to lick their wheels. “Thrust” goes for a “Mad Max”-style vision of urban decay and tribal divide, with the effort looking to amplify its female atmosphere as the purge of men continues, but there’s not a lot of action in the movie, which is mostly content to detail banal conversations between the characters. Threats are also limited in effectiveness, as most of the picture comes across as a filmed Halloween party, with Bonacore failing to challenge the actors and their iffy way with line-readings.

Dirtbag Mike is the primary threat of “Thrust,” following the wretched man’s path of revenge, which often finds him confronting “good ones” as he crosses the land. “Thrust” doesn’t do much with the character, making him into a vague figure of rage, preparing him for a climatic retribution sequence that, of course, involves fecal matter. “Thrust” could use a defined antagonist to help wake up the protagonists, but Dirtbag Mike allows Bonacore to indulge his fondness for graphic encounters, giving the endeavor a few jolts of violence.

Thrust Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation deals with an extremely colorful and processed feature, which favors a nuclear palette to communicate its punk wasteland setting. Aggressive reds are common, along with a general push of primaries on art and costuming. Greenery is acceptable and skin tones are natural. Detail is adequate with some softness, exploring a range of facial surfaces, picking up on age and makeup additions. Gory events are also reasonably textured. Open world tours carry some depth, and interiors are loaded with decorative elements for study. Delineation is satisfactory. Some banding is detected.

Thrust Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix offers a straightforward listening experience, with clear dialogue exchanges coming from a range of acting abilities and enunciation habits, also dealing with the inherent limitations of the low-budget production. Scoring offers adequate support, and soundtrack selections are acceptably amplified, working to give the endeavor some rock emphasis.

Thrust Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features co-writer/actress Erin Brown and actress Allison Egan.

• "End of Men" (183:35, HD) is a lengthy making-of for "Thrust," offering a fly-on-the-wall look at the production in motion, dealing with the construction of shots and corralling of actors.

• "Origins" (14:23, HD) is a dual interview with musician Ami Goodheart and writer Hannah Foreman, who explore the early ideas of "Thrust," which began as a band, eventually finding its way to a piece of graphic writing titled "Shitfucked: A Vile Love Story," coming out the other side as a movie.

• "Triangle" (24:42, HD) is a short film by Victor Bonacore. It can be viewed with or without commentary by Victor Bonacore and Caleab Wyant.

• "Yas! Scream Queens" (13:33, HD) is a dual interview with Linnea Quigley and Sadie Tate, who offer their career ambitions and discuss highlights from their filmographies and work with director Victor Bonacore.

• "'Thrust' Weekend" (45:24, HD) highlights a few events arranged to celebrate the release of the movie, including a concert in Dayton, Ohio, and a Q&A appearance at a local theater with production participants Linnea Quigley, Erin Brown, Allison Egan, Scarlett Storm, Michael Sherneovich, and Victor Bonacore.

• "The Music of 'Thrust'" (33:20, HD) explores soundtrack and scoring contributions for "Thrust."

• "Scary Mary's Sinema Fantastique" (49:43, SD) is the full fetish film with graphic sexual additions, seen briefly in the feature as Aloe and Vera enter the villain's domain.

• And a Trailer (3:01, HD) is included.

Thrust Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Thrust" strives to throw an alternative cinema party, packing the unreal run time with punk music and bad performances, wild costuming and decoration, and plenty of unsavory encounters between broad characters. It's meant to be a celebration of the extreme, labeled with a "for mature audiences only" warning at the opening the picture. Maturity isn't a priority for the endeavor, as Bonacore is mostly committed to generating chaos, only to come up short when it comes to a truly unhinged level of engagement. Instead of summoning a tornado of extremes with "Thrust," the production struggles to build a steady pace and deal with a seemingly colorful world of anti-male warriors enjoying a newfound sense of release away from their captors. More importantly, "Thrust" isn't fun, taking way too long to end up a muddle of restless visuals and half-baked ideas.