The Lonely Crowd
June 22nd, 2026
MOVIE: THE LONELY CROWD
STARRING: ADAM WESLEY, TAYLOR ANNE DANEHOWSER, JON OSHEI, GIANCARLO CARMONA
DIRECTED BY: DAVID ST. CLAIR
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)
RATED: R
RUN TIME: 105 MINUTES
Earlier this year, I finally watched Jonathan Demme’s spectacular Something Wild, a film that simply doesn’t get made anymore. It blends sex, comedy, and thrills with the kind of studio budget that was possible in 1986. When you’re watching independent films, as I do, most barely have 1986-level money, let alone 2026 money, and the limitations often show. David St. Clair’s The Lonely Crowd has a sharp script and a hardworking cast trying to elevate the material, but it is constantly hindered by a lack of resources.
The story begins with a first date. Peter (Adam Wesley) and Ashley (Taylor Anne Danehower) have matched through an online dating app, both arriving with plenty of baggage. Peter is a failed baseball player who still hasn’t gotten over his ex-girlfriend and is hoping for a fresh start. Ashley has a history of dating troubled men and struggles to escape her own issues. During dinner, Ashley spots Phil (Jon Oshei), a friend of one of her ex-boyfriends and a dangerous man who has recently escaped from prison. Phil interrupts the date and becomes aggressive toward Ashley. When Peter attempts to intervene, Phil takes them hostage at gunpoint, forcing Peter along for the ride while making Ashley lead him to a large sum of money buried in an old junkyard.
What makes The Lonely Crowd a difficult film to review is that it constantly oscillates between strengths and weaknesses. Strong stretches of dialogue are followed by flat cinematography or distracting stock-footage transitions. During the journey, an altercation between Peter and Phil leaves Phil dead, forcing Peter and Ashley to find their way home together. These scenes are where the film works best. Wesley and Danehower have a believable chemistry as two people thrown into an increasingly absurd situation, and their conversations crackle with frustration, attraction, and uncertainty. St. Clair understands how to build sexual tension and conversational drama, but once the story shifts toward gangsters, guns, and action sequences, the seams begin to show.
The film truly unravels in its third act with the arrival of the villainous Jake (Giancarlo Carmona). A sequence set at Ashley’s family home feels awkward and stiff, and the narrative begins repeating itself as Jake essentially becomes another criminal holding people hostage in pursuit of money. The climax suffers from the same budgetary limitations that plague the rest of the film. Action is frequently cut around to hide what the audience cannot see, and the primary location looks less like a dramatic showdown and more like the back room of a department store.
This is the unfortunate reality of many independent films. Artists are often doing the best they can with the resources available to them. The Lonely Crowd has aspirations of being a Tarantino or Martin McDonagh-style crime thriller, but it never reaches those heights because it simply lacks the means to do so. Still, there is enough talent on display here to suggest a bright future for David St. Clair and the cast of his debut feature. He may just have to remake his first film someday- only this time with a much bigger budget.
2 STARS
THE LONELY CROWD IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO RENT ON AMAZON PRIME.
Written by: Leo Brady
