Lake George review, a little known gem

Lake George is a small indie, an authentic story about an odd couple starring Shea Whigham and Carrie Coon. It went under the radar when it came out in 2024, but might be getting some attention now that it’s streaming on Hulu.

Lake George is about a good man and a bad woman. Don (Shea Whigham) gets out of prison. He calls his family to tell them he’s out but has to leave a voice mail. He has an injured right arm from his time in prison.

Don goes to see Armen (Glenn Fleshler) to collect the money owed him for taking the fall for him. The deal was Don would get money when he got out.

But Armen doesn’t want to pay. He wants Don to “take care of” Phyllis (Carrie Coon) for him first. Armen gives Don a gun, a car, some other necessary murder tools, and sends him off to find Phyllis.

Don isn’t the murdering kind, but he heads after Phyllis anyway. When he catches up with her he realizes he can’t kill her. He decides to take her hostage and drive her to Washington state if she promises to never come back to L.A.

Phyllis is a fast talking con artist who knows all of Armen’s secrets, including where he stashes his cash. She convinces Don to make a few pit stops to grab the cash as they drive to Washington. She promises it will be easy.

It isn’t easy. It’s a bloody disaster.

The two of them become friends, of a sort. Their relationship grows on them as they go through a series of crazy money grabs.

Don wants to give some money to his ex wife for his kids. Then he wants to go stay in a cabin at Lake George, enjoy the peace and quiet, and admire the lake. He is tired of trouble and tired of fighting. Shae Whigham owned this movie. He was terrifically good.

Phyllis, on the other hand, wanted to be rich. Richer. For a character who could be straight up ruthless, Phyllis was actually likeable and empathetic. Maybe it was just Carrie Coon’s boffo performance that made me like her character. She did plenty of bad things that should turn people against her. but I was left caring about her.

Lake George wasn’t a happy movie. The ending was sad but felt right. The whole story was a just a couple of days with an odd couple who shared some intense moments. I really enjoyed the intimacy and dark humor of it. If you haven’t seen the trailer, it can give you a clue as to whether you’ll enjoy it.

If you watch it, please share your reactions in the comments.