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# Between Here and There: 'Anywhere'
- URL: https://www.moviegoingwithbill.com/anywhere-review/
- Published: 2026-08-09T00:43:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-09T00:43:52.000Z
- Description: The independent noir that runs a tragic and intriguing distance.
- Author: Bill Arceneaux
- Tags: Reviews, #score-4

## Dear Moviegoers,

It began with a punch to the gut and a bullet through a wall, and it ended with nefarious neglect and an act of grace. Everything in between was a noir-ish gas and a turn of several screws. This is the movie *Anywhere*, directed by Adam Seidel and starring the great Joshua Burge (*Relaxer*, *Buzzard*, Buster Keaton lookalike). Writers like to use “a tale as old as time” when describing familiar and profound scenarios, and, while that works here, there’s something more heightened about the film that elevates all descriptions about it. To put things simply, it’s a very good picture.

To put things with a bit more slickness, *Anywhere* is small-town dramatics with short-sighted destinations and scaled-up dreams. It’s an above-average film with above-average performances, from cast to crew to camera, that is just enough script and screen to give itself up to the gods of cinema and the beggars of criticism. Dust-covered, gritty here and there, and surprisingly violent for something that is fair and meek throughout, it’s not tough to suggest or state that this movie is a surprise and a half. How’s that for “slickness?”

At the center of this sordid tale from the smallest of small Oklahoma towns is a young roughneck who has just discovered his wife’s infidelity with his own brother - a dumb brute who speaks in thespian grandeur. Joshua Burge plays the quiet husband and betrayed brother with an intense stillness that would be ready to burst into extreme emotion at any moment, if only it weren’t all held back by an unacknowledged sadness. Not so much toxic masculinity in his case, but rather stunted confidence. Burge is brilliant here, as he always is, saying what he can’t express verbally with piercing stares and tightly pursed lips. 

Equally excellent is the performance by Hayley McFarland, who plays the shifty wife, and the writing of her character. She doesn’t appear from the get-go as being a live wire, but certainly feels jilted enough to want to be one. And, by “jilted,” I mean the self-imposed kind. Or the made-up kind. McFarland shows shades of grift and darkness and sweetness in a package of petite power, wielding a chainsaw with the same ease as she longs for the beach. 

*Anywhere*’s most shocking and startling moments come from this longing, and are captured with intelligent cinematography, shot by Adam J. Minnick. The eyes of the film move from set to prop to scenario to reminder ever so poignantly and purposefully, never taking over from the story proper but definitely making it stronger by working in sync. Noticeable but controlled. 

Tragedy, triumph, tests, and trials. *Anywhere* is just about as timeless as a movie can get. Some places still use landline phones, and others are made up of diners and dives. These are the towns between towns. The voids between life and living. Anywhere? Almost. **4/5**

## Sincerely Yours in Moviegoing,

## ⚜️🍿