The pacing is sometimes shaggy, and the boys’ motivations are occasionally mysterious, but Guðmundsson’s young actors are magnetic in a physical, haunted way...

For much of the film, Guðmundsson draws on the long tradition of angry young man films, without adding much by way of originality or insight that hasn’t already been said.

It’s a sad, familiar story of boys being socially constructed, hyper-masculinized, aggressively nasty little jerks, one largely distinguished by the palpable tenderness that the writer-director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson brings to its telling.

The all-pervasive filth, decay and sordidness can leave you cringing at times but this is offset by strong, likeable performances from the kids and some gorgeous cinematography.