A washed up journalist desperate to rekindle his career, forced to take an anniversary piece in a sleepy town must hack through deadly social terrain when he discovers the town harbors dark secrets they want, and anyone who tries to expose them, buried.

Great premise, although from the way it’s worded, it reads more like a horror film in my opinion.

That being said, I made a couple of tweaks just to help make it a bit more concise. Feel free to use what you like and discard what you don’t 🙂

A washed up journalist takes on an anniversary piece only to discover that it harbors dark secrets in a town where anyone who digs too deep meets a sinister end.

This keeps the essence of what you were trying to say while also improving the clarity a bit. For me personally, I also try to keep loglines at 30 words or less.