Backtrace (film)

After suffering a brain injury from a bank heist gone wrong, MacDonald (Matthew Modine) develops amnesia and is put into a prison psychiatric ward. Following his seventh year in evaluation, he is coerced by an inmate and a ward doctor (Ryan Guzman and Meadow Williams) to break out of prison and injected with a serum that forces him to relive the life he's forgotten. MacDonald must now elude a local detective (Sylvester Stallone), a toughened FBI agent (Christopher McDonald) and the drug's dangerous side effects in order to recover the stolen money all while confronting his past.

• Sylvester Stallone as Detective Sykes: An experienced police detective, assigned to work with Agent Franks on the case involving Donovan MacDonald.
• Matthew Modine as Donovan "Mac" MacDonald: A suspected bank robber and thief, who is overcome with amnesia following a shootout. MacDonald is imprisoned in a prison psychiatric hospital for seven years, before escaping and seeking to remember his past and prove his innocence.
• Ryan Guzman as Lucas MacDonald: Introduced as MacDonald's inmate in prison, it is later revealed that Lucas is MacDonald's son.
• Meadow Williams as Dr. Erin MacDonald: Introduced as the medical official attending to MacDonald's condition in prison; it is later revealed that Erin is MacDonald's wife. Williams additionally served as executive producer on the film.
• Tyler Jon Olson as Farren MacDonald: Introduced as a security guard, assigned to MacDonald while in prison; it is later revealed that Farren is MacDonald's son.
• Christopher McDonald as Agent Franks: An FBI special agent, assigned to the investigation involving Donovan MacDonald. Franks is revealed to be the criminal mastermind, guilty with framing MacDonald and his family.
• Colin Egglesfield as Detective Carter: A young police detective, who works as the protégé under Det. Sykes on the case involving Donovan MacDonald.
• Brooks Nader as Orderly Lisa
• Jenna Willis as Detective Bay
• Lydia Hull as Dr. Nichols
• Baylee Curran as Secure Guard Alicia

Backtrace was officially announced in November 2018, co-starring Sylvester Stallone, Matthew Modine and Ryan Guzman. Brian A. Miller served as director, with a script written by Mike Maples, the story was detailed as an action crime-thriller involving Stallone's Det. Sykes pursuit of an escaped convicted psychotic bank robber.^[5]

Miller described the project as a whodunit-styled crime mystery. The filmmaker described his experiences with the cast with high praise, noting his life-long fandom of Sylvester Stallone. Miller stated that Stallone's experiences in filmmaking enhanced the film, classifying Stallone as an auteur. The filmmaker additionally that though the final act is a plot-twist, clues and hints are scattered throughout the movie, intended for repeated viewings from the audience. The script underwent several rewrites, prior to production, with major plot changes; while McDonald, Guzman, and Egglesfield joined production immediately after receiving word that Stallone had signed on to co-star in the film.^[6]

The film was shot in Savannah, Georgia and lasted 12 days.^[7][8] Production endured varied unexpected weather patterns, but quickly completed principal photography.^[6]

Backtrace was given a limited-theatrical, and simultaneous VOD release on December 14, 2018.^[5]

It was later released on home video, on February 19, 2019.^[9] Backtrace grossed $0 in North America and $488,148 in other countries,^[1] plus $717,998 with home video sales.^[2]