We are honored to raise the curtain on the 5th Idaho International Film Festival with The Walker, the new work writer/director Paul Schrader (Mishima, Raging Bull, Affliction, Taxi Driver). The final film in his “lonely man” trilogy (that began with American Gigolo in 1980 and continued in 1992’s Light Sleeper) stars Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Willem Dafoe, and screen legend Lauren Bacall.

Schrader’s latest tale of moral redemption is a mystery-thriller set in contemporary Washington, D.C. that centers on Carter Page (Harrelson), a well-heeled and popular socialite who serves as confidant, companion, and card partner to some of the capitol’s leading ladies. These pampered women are married to the most powerful men in America, and when their husbands are too busy running the country to attend to their wives, they turn to their “gay best friend,” Carter, for warmth, wit, and wisdom.

His loyalty is tested when his dearest friend (Scott Thomas) finds herself on the brink of a scandal that could destroy her reputation and her husband’s career. Offering to cover for her, Carter suppresses incriminating evidence, only to find himself the chief suspect in a criminal investigation. Suddenly, this well-connected man-about-town is a pariah, hounded by the police and forced to find the true culprit and clear his name. More importantly, he must re-examine whether it is important to be accepted by a society based on betrayal, hypocrisy, and corruption.