WTC View Review – Impressive, an Attention Grabbing Powerhouse

WTC View, from Edgeworx Studios and Robert Ahrens Entertainment, brings to the screen a powerhouse indie film that tells the story of how many New Yorkers, post 9/11, struggled with the emotions and the psychological repercussion of the terrorist attacks.

Written and directed by Brian Sloan, WTC View stars Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) and Elizabeth Kapplow with Jeremy Beazlie, Lucas Papaelias, Michael Linstroth, Nick Potenzieri and Jay Gillespie as potential renters.

We meet Eric as he is placing a roommate advertisement in the Village Voice on Monday, September 10, 2001. With direct views of the World Trade Center, his two bedroom, a dingy walk up the picked up a decade before during grad school, when rents were lower, is a quick rental.

The next day, September 11, 2001, the ad runs and while close, not within the quad, the radius around the World Trade Center, river to river that endured mandatory evacuation. And as New Yorkers life above Canal Street does go on and the notorious reputation of quick moving apartments holds  true and Eric has a machine full of respondents.

Eric is late on his rent. We don’t find until much later in the film how personally effected he was by the events of 9-11.

As the WTC View unfolds, Eric is constantly showing the apartment, and each person becomes fixated on the gaping hole in the Manhattan skyline, and the crematorium smells, the sights still very present, the sounds, the residual effects become a contagion, the concerns grow, then of course, the rent, astronomical in a war zone, no good post terror attack deals here.

WTC View is a combination of live action and news footage feeding in between the days. Pictures, a collage of moments lost, the days, time, seasons and events of a moment no one person expected.

Seasoned New Yorkers don’t suffer, they work. They don’t get bogged down, mired in the inch thick sludge, a mixture of ash, soot, human remains, they wash off the exterior, pretty things up and move on, skip over the pain, eventually it will go away.

One month, Eric is still in pain, far too long for a dedicated New Yorker, or one would believe, concerned that reveling the truth about the Post Traumatic Stress he is experiencing would mark him as weak.

We find out as he explains to the steady stream of potential roommates, he saw the whole thing, meaning he watched as the towers were hit, as they fell as intelligent dedicated men and women, jumped, with manmade parachutes deciding the chance at survival was better than the wait for help that would never come.

Meaning he heard the low roar of the first plane as it flew so close over the city, as it zeroed in on its target. As the terror of watching the entire scenes play out like a disaster movie, apocalyptic winter, suddenly the plume of smoke sending hardened, fearless, makers of their own destiny running feeling fear, dread.

Eric is gay; his best friend is a straight female, Josie, played by Elizabeth Kapplow, who is explaining hetero’s are not faring any better in post disaster New York. No sex, no one is having sex.

Life is going on so she had her roots done on September 11 and her husband considers it anti-American which has led to a public revelations of personal details at a dinner party and verbal sparring.

At the time of the appointment the city was still somewhat operational before the banks, transportation, flights and every possible means of transportation in and out was shut down.

The Upper East Side was still, after being glued to the tube for a few hours, I mean downtown is somewhat far, and the appointment was necessary. Her husband, is aloof, she is turning to her gay friend for support who is distant and struggling, he is mentally clinging to a thread.

The back story is the quest for a roommate in SoHo 12 blocks from the WTC.  The parade of potentials each have a story which, when they look out the room's window, seems to take hold with a life of its own and they begin to recite the details of the "where were you" moment of this generation.

The stories are actual, having lived in Jersey and worked on Wall Street then, I could relate with trying to call my parents, unable to get through, no transportation, F-16 dominating the airspace, watching the cloud. 

Michael Urie gives and impressive performance. He shows a depth and range of emotion that was not expected and honestly never thought he possessed. His skill is greater than the sum of his past roles.

For me, the only drawback is the gay hook up scenes. I'm hetero and did fast forward through the bedroom scene.

Folks, this little indie film is a powerhouse! Impressive. I was very taken aback by the talent, the writing and direction. The script captured the range of emotions that the population experienced.  

WTC VIEW is festival gold. Very good. 

WTC View is available acorss most streaming platforms and is playing in select cities. Check local listings.

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