Reverie Realms Studios Clocks In with Cerebral Drama ‘Final Hour’

Final Hour is a compelling dark Drama featuring legendary performers Clifton Powell (Rush Hour, Saints & Sinners) and Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, Expendables) alongside other familiar stars such as Manny Perez, William Mark McCullough, Olga Merediz, and Benjamin Vandermay. Helmed by Jamal Hill (Lady Gaga’s Candy Warhol), the film follows a death row inmate (McCullough) in his final hour of life, who realizes the clergyman sent to grant his last rites ( Perez) has a startling connection to his victims.

I had the honor of catching up with two members of the production team at Reverie Realms Studios-- writer and producer Woody Dorilus and his producing partner Frank Cid-- about the upcoming project now in post-production.

What is the most interesting facet of this film's story that you'd like to share with our readers? 

Woody Dorilus (Co-writer/producer): This is a story of redemption and a reminder that we are all one mistake away from being in someone else's situation – whether that's on purpose or an accident. If we saw each other in that light, then maybe we'd be a little bit more kind and forgiving. Through two of the characters specifically, you see how one mistake changed both of their lives. And even outside of the prison system, I think of cancel culture. If someone makes a mistake, is there no redemption? People should have consequences, but can they have redemption too? If there's one thing that we want audiences to take from the film, it's those thoughts. 

Frank Cid, Reverie Realms Studios producer

Frank Cid (Producer): I'll add to that. In our community, there's a serious issue with incarceration and what leads our people down that road. I mean, we probably all have individuals in our family who have made errors, and now those mistakes are unforgivable—and it's not because they were necessarily always big mistakes, but that's how society paints us. It was important for me to tell this because of how Woody and Joe told this story. 

David made a mistake when he was young but still has to pay for it. But now as a culture, we must decide if we hate them forever. This issue is across the board; it's not a color issue; it's a people issue. As a modern society, we have to decide when people get to move on. We decided not to be a vengeful society. Like we don't cut off someone's hand for stealing a candy bar; America decided not to do that. Yet, we do it through the justice system. 

Is there anything specific about the project that drew you in during its early stages?

Frank Cid (Producer): For me, it was the characters. For example, Father John is a compelling character. It's interesting whenever you have such a crisis of conflict and morals. Granted, I also love David's character, but he's very zen and aware of his mistakes. At one point, I was like, Father John is the problem! His job is forgiveness and bringing people back to God, and if you don't do your job, what does that mean? Also, I love Warden White. He's the lightning rod. He's the one who is grounded and protects everyone but he's also seen a lot of death. However, he isn't affected by it the way others would. We didn't make him the typical law enforcement guy. Also, Olga was phenomenal as Aunt Martha. You see her conflict with Father John and trying to lead him on her dark road. It's one of the greatest scripts I've personally ever read. 

Woody Dorilus, Reverie Studios co-writer/producer

Woody Dorilus (Co-writer/producer): I think it was just going through that story to answer the question: How do we face redemption? Sometimes the road to redemption can be ugly and to go through it and get to the end was very compelling. And yes Warden White, played by Clifton Powell, was amazing. It was important to have a voice of reason and have the characters ask those questions that the audience will have. So that's a little trick we did that I enjoyed. 

Are there any unique challenges in production that you came across that you wouldn't have been able to anticipate beforehand?

Woody Dorilus (Co-writer/producer):: We had a fantastic crew, but we dealt with a lot on set. For example, we had a flu outbreak on set so that was hard with people getting sick and cranky on set. But another big challenge was filming in the prison, it wasn't a set. It was an actual active prison. At any moment we could be in the wrong place (laughs). Everybody had these looks on their face, on the set, like is this okay? But the staff was very accommodating, we just had to stay on point every day. The first few days were challenging aside from all of the different personalities. 

Please tell our readers a little bit about your individual and collective philosophies as filmmakers.

Frank Cid (Producer): Being a filmmaker for three months, my philosophy is all about quality. You have to give the best quality you can afford and beyond. You have to use your network and the tools available to you. We're fortunate that a lot of people wanted to help us. And we did a lot with our available resources. There was never a thought that we wouldn't fix it.

Woody Dorilus (Co-writer/producer): A big important element for me is real storytelling – I want people to fall in love with characters and stories. There's so much content – that it's not about the stories and characters that people can enjoy and love anymore. It's not all about the money. Great stories come from great characters that people can relate to. It doesn't matter how you view yourself, in a good story you can see parts of yourself in your story. 

Also, I want to be able to touch on important stories without being preachy. Movies affect people. Think of a movie theater, you see people coming out with shared emotions – whether good, bad, or indifferent. Very few things in the world do that. I want to make content like that.

What would be your dream sequel/prequel to this project? 

Woody Dorilus (Co-writer/producer): There could be a prequel, but there's definitely no sequel. All of the answers get answered in the story. I hate to say this because I’m a writer, but we answer every single question.

Frank Cid (Producer): I will give the business answer, it depends on how many zeroes are attached. But in general,  I agree.  I don't know that, we will need a sequel, but it depends. 

Where would you like our readers to keep up with the project and the team online? 

You can keep up with the film on Instagram at @FinalHour_movie and with our team at Reverierealms.com.