Vanessa Hudgens transforms herself in the trailer for Gimme Shelter

You may think from the image above that GIMME SHELTER is a zombie movie, but you would be wrong. While Rosario Dawson and Vanessa Hudgens do an admirable job of uglying themselves for roles as poor, drug addicts, it is for the dramatic true life story of a girl fighting her way out of the foster care system and into a better life. GIMME SHELTER has all of the makings of a typical, treacly feel good Oscar bait movie but it may be more than that.

Also starring Brendan Fraser and James Earl Jones, GIMME SHELTER was directed by Ron Krauss back in 2011 and is only now seeing distribution. That could indicate an issue with the film or maybe just the typical trials of an independent production, but this trailer does look at least somewhat watchable.

16 year old street-wise Apple (Vanessa Hudgens) has never had an easy life. Her mother, June Bailey (Rosario Dawson), is an addict and prostitute, is verbally and physically abusive, and is grooming her daughter to follow in her footsteps. Apple knows the streets, alleys and motels like the back of her hand but wants more from her life. She possesses a tenacious, tough, indomitable spirit, and will not surrender to fate. Apple runs away from her mother and tracks down her father whom she has never known, as he was only 19 when he got Apple’s mother pregnant. Apple begs her now Wall Street Broker father, Tom Fitzpatrick (Brendan Fraser), to take her in. In the few days under her father’s care, she learns she’s become pregnant by a kid from the streets she met on the train, who now wants nothing to do with her. She is forced to leave her father’s home because of her choice to give birth to the baby she is carrying.

I have never really though much of Vanessa Hudgens as an actress. I don’t think she is anything special as a performer but that could also be due to not having appeared in very many projects that require more than a smile and some singing skills. After HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, she and Zac Efron were poised for stardom, something only Efron has grabbed onto. This could be Hudgens ticket to some recognition, so keep an eye out.

GIMME SHELTER premieres in limited release on January 24, 2014.