Review: Seedy thriller ’48 Hours to Live’ grooves better than it tells a story

It’s not often that you get to experience a grimy criminal underworld thriller with sweet techno beats and sick dance moves, but the film “48 Hours to Live” is just that. The script by Gregory Ramon Anderson, Rashad El Amin and Hannah Macpherson is a Frankenstein’s monster of “Crank,” “Step Up” and “We Are Your Friends,” with director Benny Boom using neon-saturated, text-heavy stylistic tics reminiscent of the teen cyber-adventure flick “Nerve.”

Wyatt (James Maslow) and his sister Sherilyn (Tyne Stecklein) had a rough childhood on the mean streets of Los Angeles. Dance and drugs were their way out and Wyatt’s ticket to jail and rehab. Now, Wyatt looks to avenge the death of Sheri, who became embroiled in the seedier side of the EDM club scene in downtown LA.

Scottish character actor Tommy Flanagan cuts an intriguing, if underwritten figure as club owner Kipling, while Beau Casper Smart plays a rich kid developer looking to make DTLA into EDM Disney.

Boom references the rave credo P.L.U.R. (peace, love, unity, respect), using the words as chapter headings in the film, but they’re largely meaningless for the story, and just one of the ways that style takes precedence in “48 Hours to Live.” That would be fine — there are a few well-executed dance snippets — if a bold, trippy aesthetic were sustained throughout, but there’s more focus on the dull mystery and predictable story twists, and not nearly enough choreographic ecstasy on-screen.

-------------

‘48 Hours to Live’

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Playing: Arena Cinelounge, Hollywood

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour »

calendar@latimes.com