From an outside perspective, Amarillo is a fairly minimalist town that holds attention in the state for being the home of the Big Texan on the historic Route 66, a restaurant with an insane food challenge. Besides the Big Texan, Amarillo can often be dismissed by travelers, at least until now. The “Bomb City” movie is about to bring a lot of attention to the town of Amarillo.

“Bomb City” is a movie about the death of a former Amarillo teen, Brian Deneke, that occurred in 1997. Deneke was a young artist that helped create Stanley Marsh 3’s “Dynamite Museum” mock road signs and was also a part of the crew that helped Marsh move Cadillac Ranch to its present location.

Besides his involvement with the mock road signs and Cadillac Ranch, Deneke was a participant in the punk-rock scene of Amarillo along with his friends. Deneke, with his blue mohawk, often received torment from students during high school.

The movie focuses primarily on the night Deneke was murdered. During the final night of his life, Deneke was involved in a fight at the Western Plaza Shopping Center that ended with Deneke being hit by a car. The driver of the car was Dustin Camp, who in 1999 was charged with manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years of probation. In 2001, Camp was sent to prison after violating five terms of his probation.

The movie is not only centered on an Amarillo resident, but it was also created by former Amarillo residents. The director and co-writer, Jamie Brooks, is from Amarillo and so is the producer, writer, and co-founder of “3rd Identity Films,” Sheldon Chick. Alongside Brooks and Sheldon is Sheldon’s brother, Cody Chick, a member of the production crew, who also grew up in Amarillo.

So far, the movie has won the audience award for best narrative feature at the 2017 Dallas International Film Festival and the audience award in new director feature category for best narrative feature at the 2017 Nashville Film Festival. Additionally, Dave Davis, who plays Deneke, won the special jury prize for best performance. Davis is widely known for his appearances in “Logan,” “The Big Short,” “The Walking Dead,” and “True Detective.”

Appearing in the movie along with Davis is Glenn Morshower, who has appeared in more than 200 films and productions. Morshower is best known for his role as Chad Clarke in the TV show “Friday Night Lights.” Also in the movie is Lorelei Linklater, the daughter of Richard Linklater, the Austin filmmaker. Last, but not least, is the musician Marilyn Manson who is appearing in the movie playing himself.

“Bomb City” will be in theaters and available for on-demand viewing Feb. 9. The movie may bring a lot of attention to the city of Amarillo, but it will also teach a historical story to the current residents of Amarillo.

To experience a taste of the movie, the trailer is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir4IraOtads.