The film's grungy, ultra-low-budget look, thanks to the Safdie's handheld camera, is just right for catching the crummy, hardscrabble, rat-infested milieu.

Hitchcock would have loved it, even wrapped in the Safdies scruffy enigma of a movie.

Most directors are, in fact, inspiring performers who reserve their performances for cast and crew; Bronstein is among the most self-unsparing and inspired of them, and his performance in the movie is a treasure.

Daddy Longlegs [is] the opposite of escapist entertainment. But if your father, like mine, was a character first and a dad second, you'll probably relate. And maybe you'll even feel a little less alone.