Colorado and Louise Fox (Petra Silander and Lise Gardo) are a pair of outlaw sisters on a road trip fueled by cocaine and doughnuts. Their first stop is at the funeral of one Dennis Fox (Michael Duval) their deadbeat dad who has placed in his will a woman by the name of "Apple Pie" instead of his two rebellious daughters. The Fox sisters will not stand for it, and take on the road in search of Apple Pie, promising to crush her and go to hell (yes, in that order) thus begins their quest for revenge and the inheritance that is rightfully theirs. The sisters make a stop at a motel where they learn a potential family secret regarding their long lost mother and later an unsavory encounter with an agent of the law (Mike Dopud) that is more criminal than cop.
Colorado and Louise promise to do the crushing, but they are crushed instead. These two have been crushed by others throughout their whole life, we know this because their drug habit and sense of entitlement make them act like a pair of loose cannons. Their father messed them up, no doubt and the absence of their mother is a mystery that consumes both, while they each have their own ways of dealing with this hole in their lives. A hole not unlike the center of a doughnut, which according to Louise (or David Lynch) is the most important part. And like that whole at the center of the doughnut it is the hole in their lives that they try to fill with a desire to crush the woman who in their minds replaced both of them and their mother in their father's life. It's this idea that some unknown woman by the name of "Apple Pie" could possibly be more important than both of them that ignites their desire for revenge, the desire to crush her and gain some catharsis is so powerful that the inheritance is just an added Bonus. Their father crushed their spirits and their hearts, and went to hell afterwards. A new development arises when they make their pit stop at a roadside motel, the motel manager knew their mother and reveals certain details about her past that may lead them to a family encounter. Both sisters debate whether they should follow this lead and reunite with their missing mother and gain closure, or follow their desire of revenge. This is a split decision, Colorado wants to pursue her only lead to Apple Pie while Louise wants to reunite with their mother. Both sister's broken hearts and minds deal with their parental issues in different ways: Petra doesn't want to experience another disappointment while Louise is more hopeful of finding in her mother the love that created the hole in her life. Later, the pivotal encounter with Officer Kurt M. Mitchell, another man who crushes them further and worse than anyone has ever hurt them before, and who also goes to hell afterwards after Louise takes his revenge upon him. This event makes the sisters realize that perhaps their desire for revenge is ill-advise and that that path will only crush them and send them to hell.
I WILL CRUSH YOU AND GO TO HELL is style over substance done right to the point that the lack of substance is actually deceiving. There is far more going on here than an exploitation/grindhouse Tarantino and Lynch homage. Written and Directed by Fabio Soares and Célia Paysan, this is a film with something else on its mind besides reckless behavior and revenge. This is a film about bad parenting and absent mothers, and how these traumas result in damaged individuals looking for closure or catharsis through violence and drugs. The film is very well shot, framed, edited and directed in a professional manner that only reminds you that this is a short-film and not a proper feature length film when it boldly announces that it will be "to be continued" at the twenty minute mark. The technical know-how of both filmmakers make of this short a truly polished example of film-making discipline in service of swaggering style. The dialogue is pure Tarantino, something that is extremely difficult to pull-off, but there's enough of both filmmakers own DNA in the script to keep it from being an unsuccessful rip-off of that unique cadence and style. As for the seemingly random events that unfold in the film with almost no connection between them, this is the Lynch part. Perhaps more WILD AT HEART than anything else as its central road-tripping influence. Perhaps even more so than THELMA & LOUISE but this is definitely an influence too, particularly in the defiance of destructive authority figures. This is a short film in love with films, from the excellent opening credits to its audacity to announce that there will be a sequel, leaving us wanting more. Petra Silander and Lise Gardo play the Fox sisters with an air of untamed danger and secret vulnerability hidden behind layers upon layers of defense mechanisms. The connection between both sisters is strong thanks to their on-screen chemistry making them a duo to be reckoned with. The soundtrack is excellent as well, it is its own thing, it doesn't try to lift songs from other soundtracks as homage, but rather it finds its own voice. Overall, this is a strong calling card for the filmmakers, cast and crew that show that they can dominate the technical aspects as well as the storytelling and intensity to forge their own careers.
