Bait

Messum’s far-fetched debut will hook you from the beginning, but you, too, may be unwilling bait. Unaware how they got there, six heroin addicts from Miami wake up on a desert island in the Florida Keys, with instructions that safety—and, more importantly to the lowlifes, a large cache of heroin—awaits them on an island a mile away. All troublemakers of one sort or another, they represent different walks of life from Miami’s underbelly. They soon realize that the ocean—and whatever lurks beneath it—lies between them and their prize. To make matters more complicated, within their line of sight is a boat, and aboard is whoever orchestrated this twisted series of events. While struggling to find a way to safety, they more often fight each other. The characters’ discordant voices distract from the innovative premise, and their predictable reactions don’t do the original concept justice. Agent: Annabel Merullo, Peters, Fraser, & Dunlop (U.K.). (Aug.)