With a natural cast of non-actors, the film has a slow, gentle, authentic rhythm that's completely beguiling. It's all very American, capturing a gritty sense of time and place but also finding universal truths. We feel we're watching real life--heightened by stunning yet simple filmmaking that makes fine use of both imagery and sound. The characters all spring to life remarkably, drawing us in and engaging our hearts in their stories. And yet, the film is also very, very subdued. It moves slowly, with long, languorous takes that seem to go on forever and make the film feel much longer than 90 minutes! But there's a real sense of poetry in every shot, finding beauty in what would otherwise be a grim setting, and telling its essentially horrific story without any obvious moralising. Even as terrible things happen, we never have a sense of heightened drama--this is just part of the everyday fabric of existence for these people, the events that make them who they are.

language, violence, themes

24.Sep.01