Few films are this tough to sit through-or difficult to forget.

For all its overworked grotesqueries, it attempts an intriguing climb from the deepest pits of horror towards some kind of stoic grace.

Deals in visual poetry that compels attention even as it wallows in unkindness.

Without fanfare, and even less than a faint promise, it allows us to believe in a chance for something better. How, I don’t know, but I feel it deep in my bones.