True love demands certain sacrifices, so Ruby regularly visits her husband Derek in prison, works hard to pay household and legal expenses, and endures frequent and unbearable lectures from her mother regarding bad life choices. Her husband is a good man, so it is worth it. Time, however, has a way of changing things. Despite her devotion, Ruby faces temptations and disappointments. She struggles to maintain her dignity and composure, and to shine even on her worst day.This elegant and complex film is a little hidden treasure waiting to be discovered. I was delighted to find it. The photography is one of the best things about it; colorful and beautiful images (mostly at night) make the film a gem even if it had no sound. The moody music, acoustic and ambient, adds to the magic. The story, acting and directing are also extremely well done. This film must have been a profound influence for Moonlight, or be connected to it in some way, for both films are similar in appearance, aura and stupefying impressions they leave. Winner of best director prize at Sundance.

It is always refreshing to see good indie movies exploring dark themes in a sensitive and almost lyric way. These are, incidentally, the two major strong points of this movie.There are many titles, some rather good ones, exploring incarceration an its effects on the person behind bars. Multiple angles and story lines are explored, almost always from the incarcerated point of view. 'Middle of Nowhere', instead, puts the focus on an accomplished young woman whose life hangs still when her young husband is incarcerated for a long term, and makes the movie about the effects of incarceration on people who are on the outside, supposedly free, but actually suffering by proxy a set of restrictions and struggles that derive from the fact that a loved one or in-law is not present. That is an interesting take on the subject.Nonetheless, the script is just too slow. There are several cogent reasons for a script to be slow, such as character development, parallel narratives - but none of them could possible justify it here. Thus, it becomes very difficult to keep paying attention on what the director had in mind as dozens of minutes are just fillers that, in turn, are juxtaposed with some pivotal scenes that are paradoxically too hurried up.

This movie has gotten glowing reviews from the critics and a few very positive reviews on IMDb. But the current user rating on this site is 4.9, which should tell you something. On the plus side, the acting is good, particularly in the case of Emayatzy Corinealdi (Ruby) and Omari Hardwick (Derek). Hopefully, we'll be seeing these two in more movies. The script effectively shows the dilemmas facing so many women whose husbands and boyfriends are in jail. But even though the movie has a lot of dramatic tension, it's really slow going. There are way too many pauses in conversations while the camera focuses on a character's face. The conversations between Ruby and Derek and between Ruby and her new boyfriend are painfully slow and awkward. It's as if you took a normal conversation and cut out two-thirds of the words. And there are way too many long musical interludes. You can't get to know characters well enough when there is so little dialog. And musical interludes are no substitute for drama. It also got a little annoying to always see faces in extreme closeup. Still, this is a worthwhile effort about an important subject.

Middle of Nowhere offers a beauty that is almost inarticulate in its depth. Whatever one may think that they are going to get from a story about a couple's struggle to have their relationship survive the husband's incarceration, Ava DuVernay rightly skips over the cliché straight into a story of truth, brokenness, and dignity. The truth that comes like a firestorm for the lead character is immediate and confrontational to her existence. She's a woman who, in trying to do the right thing, embarks on a journey for the real thing. DuVernay is not afraid of ambiguity for her film or her characters. This fearlessness begets the dignity in embracing one's brokenness as the only path to healing and true hope. True hope – not a cookie-cutter version of hope – but a hard won, gritty, and soul-freeing journey to a hope belies an understanding and embracing of the pursuit of purpose as a journey and not a destination. Middle of Nowhere illustrated that peace and redemption is not always pretty. DuVernay takes her time in the telling of this story. This time is a gift given to the viewer – the gift of sitting with the characters and not merely experiencing an emotional drive-by for the sake of a slick, face-paced delivery. I cannot say enough about the performances in the film. Emayatzy E. Corinealdi is a jewel of an actress. David Oyelowo and Omari Hardwick approach their roles with authenticity and clarity. DuVernay and the entire cast and crew create and invite the audience into a beautifully complicated world and then trust the audience to do the "heavy lifting" of interpretation.