There’s a micro and a macro narrative at work in writer/director Ethan Berger’s fraternity thriller The Line. On one hand, it’s a small-scale drama about Tom Backster (Alex Wolff), a promising young man who begins to question his involvement in a fraternity at prestigious Sumter College. On the grand scale, it’s a scathing indictment of how fraternities – the gateway to influence, success, and politics – are toxic, hypocritical, and ultimately dangerous.

When the film opens, Tom has a reassuring final breakfast with his concerned mother (Cheri Oteri) before heading off to sophomore year. He’s excited about living in the Kna fraternity, reuniting with his loud and boisterous best friend Mitch (Cobra Kai’s Bo Mitchell), and maybe stepping into the shoes of frat president Todd (Salem’s Lot‘s Lewis Pullman).

Things almost immediately go awry when Mitch develops an antagonistic relationship with a pledge...