| Rushed | |
| Director: | Vibeke Muasya |
| Cinematography: | Matthias Schubert |
| Editing: | Sabine Emiliani |
| Music: | Kristian Eidnes Andersen |
| Distributor: | Vertical Entertainment |
| Runtime: | 101 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
Rushed (also known as "A Mother's Fury" or "The Frat Haze" in the United Kingdom) is a 2021 American mystery thriller drama film directed by Vibeke Muasya and starring Siobhan Fallon Hogan (who also wrote the screenplay and co-produced the film) and Robert Patrick.
Jimmy O'Brien is a quiet college freshman experiencing regular fraternity hazing, unbeknownst to his overbearing Irish-Catholic mother, Barbara. One night after being forced to drink excessive amounts of alcohol, Jimmy ends up in a coma and, eventually, his family make the difficult decision to take him off life support.
Shortly after, they receive a letter from the college who advise they will not accept any liability for Jimmy's death. Directionless and depressed, Barbara initially spends her days at home in New York chain-smoking and writing angry e-mails to the college principal, causing distance between herself and her three other children.
One day after reading other mothers' stories online about their sons dying following hazing incidents, Barbara decides to begin travelling around the country to interview them, hoping to bring awareness to the matter with the possibility of getting help from her husband Jim's friend Bob Daley, a senator from Washington DC.
After weeks of not hearing back from Bob, Barbara attends one of his fundraisers uninvited. Much to her shock, she witnesses his speech, during which talks about the "brotherhood" of college fraternities and downplays the recent hazing incidents. When she interrupts, Bob tries to quickly dismiss the importance of Jimmy's death, and Barbara walks out. Losing faith, she calls Jimmy's cell phone and leaves him a voicemail, apologising for not being able to change the legislation.
Jim calls Barbara while she is driving home and tells her he has received a photograph of Jimmy from the night of his death, showing that he was tied up and urinated on while being made to drink. Barbara turns her car around and stops at a gas station to buy alcohol before heading to an armory. She also books a stay at a secluded cottage for the night.
The next morning, Barbara calls Steven Croission, the main instigator of Jimmy's hazing, and tells him she would like to meet him to gift the fraternity a cheque in Jimmy's honour, which he agrees to. She lures him into her car and pulls a gun on him before driving him back to the cottage. She ties him up and begins taunting him like he did to Jimmy, while he begs for his life. She then forces him to call his mom and tell her he killed Jimmy. The line then goes quiet before a gunshot is heard.
Barbara attempts to return to normal life but later hands herself into the local police. At her trial, it is revealed that she did not shoot Steven; she tells the prosecutor she just wanted to mess with him. She says she could never do that to another mother, because to know your son is dead is unbearable.
Fallon Hogan was inspired to write the film and give herself a lead role after initially thinking about doing another one-woman show.[1] Scenes were shot in Hogan's home in New Jersey.[2] The last two days of filming occurred in Central New York.[3] Ellen Cleghorne filmed scenes as the school principal, but they were cut.[4]
It was announced that Vertical Entertainment acquired North American distribution rights to the film in June 2021.[5] The film was released in select theaters on August 27, 2021.[3] [6] [7]
The film has an 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews.[8]
Andrew Stover of Film Threat gave the film a seven out of 10 and wrote, "All in all, this is a well-acted thriller that is surprising and sensible."[9]
Valerie Kalfrin of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists wrote, "Hogan infuses Barbara with such lived-in certainty that her performance is the strongest reason to watch Rushed. Unfortunately, she and co-star Robert Patrick, as Barbara’s husband, Jim, are mired in a story that feels too familiar, if not dated."[10]
Peter Gray of The AU Review wrote: "Rushed is a tender, yet furious drama about the hazing ritual culture of American fraternities."[11]