Shock to the System

"Some secrets kill."

Jul 16 2006 R 1h 31m
Crime, Drama, Mystery

When hard boiled private eye Donald Strachey finds his latest client dead, an apparent suicide, Albany’s favorite gay detective smells a rat and decides to take matters into his own hands. With the help of his straight-laced but adoring husband Tim and his occasionally too-eager assistant Kenny, Strachey’s investigation leads him on a dark and dangerous trail into the world of "gay conversion therapy".

Plot

Because of a feature article on him in the Advocate, Albany based Donald Strachey has gained some notoriety as a gay private detective. His latest client, Paul Hale, a scared young man, provides Donald with a $5,000 retainer to find "someone", that person unspecified before Paul is scared off. Soon thereafter, Paul is found dead. The official cause of death is deemed suicide by the coroner's office, but Donald wants to do right by Paul by finding who killed him as the police unofficially believe he was murdered. Another person who believes Paul was murdered is his mother, Phyllis Hale. Donald learns that homophobic Mrs. Hale sent Paul to the Phoenix Foundation, run by Dr. Trevor Cornell and his wife Lynn Cornell and for which Paul was the poster child. The Foundation's raison d'etre is repairative therapy i.e. to help people turn from gay to straight. Donald believes Paul's death has something to do with the Foundation, whether it be a connection to one of the Cornells or one of the other patients. As such, Donald goes undercover as a patient at the Foundation to find the killer. This case ends up hitting home for him as he opens up for the first time to his partner Tim Callaghan about his own less than happy gay past.

Written by

Richard Stevenson, Ron McGee

Directed by

Ron Oliver

Production Countries

Canada, United States of America

Production Companies

Here! Films, Insight Film Studios, Shavick Entertainment

Languages

English

Awards

N/A

Scores
# of Votes
1,156
Average Rating
6.7 out of 10
Metascore
54
Popularity
NA