A brazen, no-holds-barred character study that's actually quite life-affirming in its own sardonic sort of way.

Rating: 7/10 (15 January 2018)

While it can feel a bit aimless thanks to its general narrative looseness and lack of persistent point-to-point plot, this brazenly tone-twisting tale takes no prisoners on its no-holds-barred bid to offend just about everyone it can while aiming to remind those same people that just because a character (not the film or its creators, I might add) thinks or even acts a certain way doesn't always mean they can't be redeemed. In this way, its overall messages are actually quite inspiring, optimistic and, dare I say, sort of hopeful, even if the feature is generally a rather downbeat and hopeless affair right until its final, suitably low-key frame. It's an experience that feels like it has something significant to say about grief, with the lasting impression being strangely life-affirming in its own uniquely sardonic kind of way, and the almost second-to-none character work on display is truly phenomenal on all sides, to the point where almost every inhabitant of the eponymous town felt like a breathing human being. That's really the main effect you get from the piece, allowing you to spend time with people you wouldn't really want to spend time with but in the process come to truly understand them, and it's rare for a work to accomplish such a connection - especially with characters who's ethics are as questionable as these. 7/10