It looks at first as if we are going to see what’s behind the headlines after an inevitable shooting spree when we meet in the leading character Ronnie (Zachary Ray Sherman), a loser filled with hatred of immigrants and people of color and consumed by the threat he sees to white society. But before Ronnie, who buys gun and spews his right wing bigotry over the internet, goes on his rampage, the film takes a distasteful detour into making porn films that muddies whatever constructive point the film might have been able to make. The result is just a plunge into ugliness and bloody mayhem.
The title “Cuck,” directed by Rob Lambert from a screenplay he wrote with Joe Varkle, refers to a slang label applied to wimpy, ineffective men. Ronnie, the cuck in the story, lives with his mother (Sally Kirkland), from whom he steals, is demeaned in life and has no relationship with a woman. He spends time masturbating while watching porn. His internet diatribes lead to a meeting with his right-wing idol who enlists him into action, including showing up at a rally.
When Ronnie sees a sexy blond on a lawn he knocks on her door and asks for a job and is given one as a handyman. It turns out that’s not the real job. Candy (Monique Parent) and her husband Bill (Timothy V. Murphy) make porn films and cast Ronnie into the demeaning position of being mocked as the cuck who masturbates while watching Candy have sex with powerful men (one a muscular African-American). All of this fuels his mounting anger, especially when he sees himself humiliated in the porn films that go public.
Mixing the porn with the political as the trigger for Ronnie’s violent explosion that we know must come deprives the film of serious meaning, and the violence becomes ugly to watch but for naught. A Gravitas Ventures release. Reviewed October 4, 2019.