You might not catch this dark suspense drama at a theater near you because it's so esoteric that it will only have a limited release, but add it to your queue the second we alert you to its DVD drop date (FZ reviews the film here). For both writer-director Carlos Brooks and star Nick Stahl though, the subject matter of Quid Pro Quo was far from obvious

Brooks was surfing the web for inspiration one night when he stumbled upon a chat room full of people who fantasize about being confined to a wheelchair. Evidently there are people out there who crave the physical challenge so ardently, they'll swallow nerve poison or have their legs severed just to live the dream. These people are called “Wannabes" and they do indeed make fascinating film fodder.

In the movie, Nick Stahl (HBO’s Carnival, Terminator 3, In the Bedroom) plays Isaac, a public radio host à la Ira Glass, who receives an odd phone call from a woman claiming to know a man who recently paid a doctor at a local emergency room more than $100,000 to cut his legs off. As Isaac investigates, he finds a group of "Wannabes" who meet regularly to discuss their fantasies. Among them is the beautiful and mysterious caller, played by Vera Farmiga (The Departed, Down to the Bone). For some reason Isaac and the femme fatale feel compelled to become part of each other's lives and help each other to a new understanding and cure, and an odd sort of redemption.

Stahl says it was not always his intention to play these dark, pensive parts. When he was cast as John Conner in James Cameron's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, he thought his career would be more blockbuster-bound. "But you take whatever work you can get," he told Filmazing. "I'd love to do a romantic comedy," he says, or just about anything else that would allow him to step outside of the quiet, troubled characters he's been playing so often.

He was more than happy to find the Quid Pro Quo script, however, even though the film is dark and haunting. It's interestingly filmed at wheelchair level until a seeming miracle occurs and the perspective changes. Brooks does us the great favor of giving us a bit of a resolution the end – just enough to satisfy without being heavy handed or leaving us hanging as so many “artistic” directors are prone to these days. Gems like this are what we live for in the smoky world of independent film.