JUMP CUT

Curiosity darn near kills a filmmaker.

Documentary director Ellie Foreman is making a puff piece to burnish the image of Delcroft Aviation, whose consumer branch is but a minor part of their major business of military aircraft and drones. Things are going swimmingly until Ellie meets Gregory Parks, who claims to be a consultant investigating new trends in consumer aviation, at one of the shooting locations. When Delcroft engineer Charlotte Hollander suddenly notices a surfeit of Parks in the background of the film, she unceremoniously fires Ellie, citing her lack of professionalism as an excuse. Deeply offended to be dumped in such a cavalier manner, Ellie sets up a meeting with Parks to pump him for information. But Parks falls or is pushed in front of a train. By sheer chance, Ellie picks up a cigarette package with a flash drive hidden inside that she’s sure belonged to Parks. Although her boyfriend, Luke Sutton, warns her about getting involved, she finds a hacker through a friend who tries to break the drive’s encryption. Then, when Hollander vanishes, Ellie becomes convinced that her phone is tapped and her computer hacked and that she's being followed. And that’s hardly surprising, for she’s delved into a dark world of conspiracies and hidden agendas in the dangerous underbelly of Delcroft’s government work. Only her wealthy boyfriend, who has contacts through his former military service, and a sly FBI agent can hope to save her hide.

After a long hiatus (A Shot to Die For, 2010, etc.) Hellmann returns to her Chicago-based sleuth with a chilling tale that may be all too close to the truth.