War is no laughing matter, and neither is the trauma that comes out of it for veterans. Samuel Gonzalez Jr.’s new psychological thriller The Plastic Men seeks to tackle the wounds veterans live with every day, and FANGORIA is excited to exclusively premiere the trailer for the new film, out at the end of the month.
Featuring narration by William Fichnter, The Plastic Men is based on a true story and stars James Preston, Aaron Dalla Villa, Melanie Martyn, Gigi Gustin, and Matthew Fahey. The film’s synopsis is as follows:
Jonathan Teller, a young American man who is drafted to serve in the Vietnam War after he is arrested at the Mexican / Texan border for smuggling. Two years later after his return to the states, he tries to reset his life, but his past traumatic experiences serving in the war and the guilt of murdering a young Vietnamese village girl result in strange and bizarre visions that collide between his nightmares and fractured reality.
As the the ghosts from his past indiscretions haunt him to the point of suicide ideation he strategically plans to end his life on New Years Eve 1971. But when a chance encounter with a complete stranger disrupts his decision, everything changes, setting his life in a direction he never imagined possible for him.
The Plastic Men is produced by Gustin, Matthew Hersh of Hearse Productions, and Gregori Martin, with Melanie Martyn as executive producer, and Glass House Distribution as distributor.
“After completing my first feature film “The Retaliators” I was searching for my next project. I stumbled upon a misplaced lonely ad on craigslist from a Vietnam veteran searching for the woman who disappeared after stopping him from committing suicide almost 40 years earlier. He wanted to thank her for the life he got to live,” says Gonzalez. “From the beginning I knew I had found the most beautiful untold story. Being a combat veteran myself, I understood his pain and his attempted transition back to normal civilian life after returning from the hell that is war.”
“I knew I had to tell his story and in some way making this film was the ultimate therapeutic experience. We called the film “THE PLASTIC MEN” – a term coined for how Vietnam veterans were treated when they returned home to their country – discarded and unused like plastic toy army men. I hope the film reaches an audience of people who in their own way, if dealing with trauma, PTSD or mental illness – that there is hope out there, and it comes in the most unexpected of ways and in the most unexpected of places. You just have to know where to look.”
The Plastic Men hits digital platforms on July 29. Check out the trailer below:
