John Q receives the “Safdie Cinema” treatment with Scott Anthony Cavalheiro’s inspired thriller Plan C. While the film is stable enough to see itself through to the end, Plan C isn’t without some doubts. Ultimately, the title of the movie grades itself.

Clare (Claire Cavalheiro) aggressively pulls strings to help her ailing brother Danny (Daniel DeSanto of Mean Girls and TV’s Are You Afraid of the Dark?). She turns to crime to secure the necessary requirements and, when Danny takes a turn for the worse creating a new deadline for his fate, a fire is lit under her to save her brother’s life – no matter what it takes. Including holding a clinic’s night crew (Jamie Spilchuk, Vivica A. Fox) hostage while defying a malevolent kingpin who is looking to “collect” from Clare.

Plan C is the type of thriller where the performances transcend the filmmaker’s material. This is a breakout role for DeSanto, who effortlessly taps into deep, emotional heartbreak from restrained physicality, and Cavalheiro fully commits to her volatile character without second guessing how the audience may perceive her aggressive attitudes. The film starts showing its amateur qualities, however, through the expletive-laden dialogue and the clunky plotting which switches between being too complicated or too convenient.

Plan C wields twists and turns that, nevertheless, catch viewers off guard. But the final scene, in much need of an epilogue for Clare, is too cruel even for these anti-heroes.

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