Veteran actor Remy Auberjonois’ polished feature debut provides an impressive showcase for co-scenarist Kate Nowlin as a career Marine derailed by PTSD upon return to civilian life.
Auberjonois’ film brings it all back home, ably demonstrating the difficulties that returning soldiers often face in attempting to reintegrate with society... Nowlin’s performance is a marvel of inner turmoil and physical exertion.
Made with passion, integrity and skill and starring Kate Nowlin as a Marine sergeant returning home with PTSD, this is American independent filmmaking at its most effective.
A strong performance by Kate Nowlin as a U.S. Marine returning from her latest tour of duty in Afghanistan fuels this study of post-traumatic stress disorder, though the strength of actor Remy Auberjonois’ tense and troubling directing debut lies in its rejection of easy diagnoses.
5 stars. One of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. ‘Blood Stripe’ is a towering achievement.
Defies the Hollywood odds by getting it right for female veterans.
Nowlin breathes life into an atypical female anti-hero, presenting a different kind of woman rarely seen on screen. Bringing both an intimidating physicality and a keen sense of fragility, her performance sells the film’s emotional authenticity and gives it a humane depth that draws us deep into her character’s haunted world. Simply put, her performance feels like lighting in a bottle.
The filmmakers do an exemplary job of bringing to light the agony such victims have to endure. I can truly appreciate how the scenes were assembled. Kate Nowlin who co-wrote the script and stars as The Sergeant does an extraordinary job of her role.
Nowlin has written and performed a fascinating character... She makes “Blood Stripe” a solid, compelling drama about the post traumatic stresses unique to women in combat, a film that — thanks to her stoic performance and intimate, unfussy direction — engenders sympathy but never pity.
A timely film that shows that the horrors of war are no kinder to women than to men...it’s painful and important.