Anthony Jergen’s Inherit The Viper is the kind of movie that would have been Oscar-bait had it been picked up by a larger studio that wasn’t LionsGate, but in today’s Clown World, most of the larger studios are concerned with helping failures like Elizabeth Banks get bankrolled into another blockbuster flop shortly after her previous outing earned a quick trip to the Get Woke, Go Broke Master List during its first weekend at theaters. But I digress (for now).

Inherit The Viper is a taut thriller about a small family in an Appalachian town trying to make bank selling illegal opioid drugs while trying to struggle to survive while working full-time jobs on the side.

It’s one of those films that gives a stark look at people doing bad things for a good reason during harsh times.

You can check out the trailer below courtesy of Film Trailer Zone.

The trailer almost hinges on giving away a lot, but scales it back and keeps it tense without going into spoiler territory.

We see that Josh Hartnett gives a somber performance as a guy trying to do right by his family but caught up in a harrowing situation where it doesn’t look like there’s anyway to get out.

The realism of the situation comes into play when one of the deals go bad and some people end up dead, leading police straight to the doorstep of the opioid dealers.

There’s that tense balancing act of riding the razor’s edge in hope of making it out okay, versus crashing and burning into the wall at the speed of one bad decision.

I couldn’t help but recall Scott Cooper’s Out of the Furnace starring Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson and Casey Affleck, once the trailer ended. It looks like Inherit The Viper could be one of those films where you’re constantly on the edge of your seat as one woe stacks up on another, not unlike Uncut Gems or Carlito’s Way.

You’ll be able to check out Inherit The Viper when it hits a theater near you, or you can catch a view via digital download or video on demand starting January 10th, 2020.