It's a forceful debut from Kapsalis, but, wow, it is harrowing.

A relentlessly unshakable albeit unpleasant ride, particularly when filmmaker Dean Kapsalis slaloms around audience expectation, something he skillfully accomplishes for the first two-thirds of the picture.

The power of The Swerve is that it doesn't paint a full-blown breakdown - in this case, one that results in an unbearable tragedy - as easily traced back to one moment.

Aided by an incredibly harrowing lead performance from Azura Skye, “The Swerve” confidently and unsparingly puts the audience in the headspace of its troubled protagonist.