Tread (2020)

Tread: Directed by Paul Solet. With Marvin Heemeyer, Patrick Brower, Glenn Trainor Jr., Casey Farrell. Pushed to his breaking point, a master welder in a small town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains quietly fortifies a bulldozer with 30 tons of concrete and steel and seeks to destroy those he believes have wronged him.

“Greetings again from the darkness. If not so tragic, this story might fit best in Ripleyu0026#39;s Believe it or Not. What better description is there for a small town welder who builds an armored bulldozer, weaponizes it, and then takes it on a rampage of revenge, destroying the buildings, homes, and businesses of those he believe u0026#39;wrongedu0026#39; him? This actually happened in Granby, Colorado in 2004, and that welderu0026#39;s name was Marv Heemeyer.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFilmmaker Paul Solet begins the film with a recording of a 911 call and news clips of the actual events of June 4, 2004. Solet then proceeds to lay out the backstory of Heemeyer, and how things escalated to the point where destruction and suicide seemed like the only logical step to him. Solet cleverly utilizes Heemeyeru0026#39;s own self-recording (via audio cassette) as a framing structure for the film. Heemeyeru0026#39;s voice tells us what his plan was, and why he had reached this level of desperation.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eInterviews are key, and we hear from law enforcement officers who were on the scene that day, Heemeyeru0026#39;s ex-girlfriend Trisha MacDonald, his best friend, a younger man from his snowmobile club, brothers from a family that had supposedly targeted Marv, and a newspaper reporter, Patrick Brower, who also wrote a book on Heemeyeru0026#39;s rampage. Actual news clips and reenactments are used to show us what those being interviewed tell. In this case, itu0026#39;s an effective approach.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s particularly interesting to hear that Marv was mostly a likable guy who just bumped up against local town and county politics a couple of times. Marv was not part of the u0026#39;good old boys clubu0026#39; and admits to needing to u0026quot;teach a lessonu0026quot; to those he perceived has gone out of the way to make life difficult for him. His bulldozer was a way for him to dole out the justice that was otherwise going unserved.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is a story of revenge told in a somewhat sympathetic manner towards Marv Heemeyer, a man who considered himself u0026quot;an American Patriot.u0026quot; The audio tape is clearly a confession of what he planned (and later carried out), and it was clear he knew this was a suicide mission. Listening to his rants, we assume some form of mental illness was involved, and his best friend describes him as a man who u0026#39;spent too much time alone.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe video clips of the carnage, and of the many law enforcement officials on the scene – all of whom were helpless to stop the bulldozer – are captivating and difficult to watch. Fortunately, after the fact, we know that no one died that day other than the man who was responsible. Marv, a man of u0026quot;righteous angeru0026quot;, had his day of serving justice and rare u0026#39;Bulldozer Rampageu0026#39; headline knocked off the front page one day later by a much bigger story.”