Lightning Bug

If you want a drama that takes its characters as seriously as its plot, Lightning Bug is available in Australia on Amazon Prime Video, and in the UK on Amazon Prime Video right now. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. With 24 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Watch it for Bret Harrison — one of the stronger performances out there right now. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Amazon Prime Video.

There is a reason Lightning Bug keeps coming up in conversation. Lightning Bug trusts its audience to sit with discomfort instead of resolving it too quickly. In this drama thriller set in the South, a young boy named Green (Bret Harrison) longs to escape his unhappy life but feels trapped in his hometown. A gifted special-effects makeup artist, Green has big dreams of working in Hollywood. But the boy's personal demons -- a drunken, abusive stepfather, a group of religious zealots out to destroy his work and the love of a girl who prefers small-town life -- may stand in the way of his dreams. Bret Harrison and Laura Prepon lead a cast doing genuinely serious work here. It was released in 2004. The writing trusts the audience to sit with ambiguity rather than wrapping everything up in a tidy conclusion — it is the approach that separates good drama from great. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

Drama fans who appreciate slow-burn storytelling will feel right at home with Lightning Bug. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Bret Harrison is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record. The patience it asks of you early on is paid back with interest.

Lightning Bug was released in 2004, directed by Robert Hall. The full 97-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.