HERE TV is sometimes a great place to find movies that were overlooked upon their initial release, and I think 1:54 (2016) falls into a category of pretty good films that never made a splash. Yan England is credited as writer and director, and the film explores extreme bullying in a Canadian high school.
Antoine Olivier Pilon plays Tim, a young man adrift since the death of his mother 5 years ago. His best friend Francis (Robert Naylor) is tormented by the bullies who perceive him as gay. When Tim stand betrays Francis, tragedy unfolds. If the movie stayed in that lane, it may have had a greater impact. But it does not take a moment to assess how the tragedy impacts those who caused it.
Then Tim decides to return to track to beat his principal tormentor, and a typical sports film ensues. Will Tim’s friend Jen be a good enough beard to hide behind? While a secret video ever be released as blackmail? It is interesting, and the cast uniformly does a great job. But it could have been more.
Thus, like many of the films at HERE MEDIA, you have an interesting film, but one that will not alas make the finals for either a gay film or a sports film.