Once again, Parker takes the lead role, this time as Leila, a young woman working in an isolated motel in Suspicious River, Washington. She begins to sell herself to her customers both for money (saving up for something she can't quite identify) and for the companionship she doesn't get from her husband (Bissonnette). Then she meets Gary (Rennie), who combines mean roughness with tender flattery ... and she's drawn in by some strange need to both give and receive both pain and pleasure. Meanwhile, her life has odd parallels with a young local girl (Welsh) with a frightening home life.

The film has a visual and narrative eeriness that grabs hold and carries us through this often horrific story. Leila's backstory is ingeniously woven into the fabric of the film as well--never sentimental or going for the obvious shock value. Stopkewich is nearly invisible as a director, understated and yet powerfully in control, guiding us carefully through an indescribable subject with intelligence, wit and meaning.