I watch this knowing nothing about it as I like to do with smaller, indie type films.I watched this expecting a horror movie, it isn't. The acting was fantastic, especially John Ashton who I hadn't seen since way back when he was in Beverly Hills! The pacing was slow but kept me glued the whole time. The sub story which runs along separately from the main story was great. Casting was perfect. Could quite easily pass as a Cohen Bros film, very Fargo-ish. The last 20 minutes are so tense my heart was thumping! Beautifully shot, I will be checking out the director's other work real soon and I just hope this gets a UK blu ray release. A real gem of a film that looks great, sounds great and shows yet again that you don't need £100 million to make a great film! Bravo!

This is a response to the reviewer who said that the film did a good job depicting rural Illinois. The small town is set in Wisconsin. Uncle John's truck has Wisconsin plates and filming was done in Lodi Wisconsin which is probably a 2 hour 45 minute drive from downtown Chicago.Sauk Prairie Recreation Area is an actual place northwest of Lodi. Devil's Lake is not far from there so there is actual terrain with bluffs similar to the one that Uncle John visits, which is likely the site where Dutch killed John's sister Dede (Ben's mother). We know she fell to her death there and supposedly jumped. The motive for John killing Dutch may very well have been a confession by Dutch that he killed her. There was a comment made in the movie that Dutch had been 'snaking' Dede which suggests that he was pursuing her but that they likely did not have a relationship.Danny telling John that Dutch told him Dede jumped because maybe she was overwhelmed by being a mom may have been a way for Danny to try to get John to reveal something.I don't think it was clear anywhere that John's sister was actually married to Dutch or that he was the father of Ben since it was Uncle John that raised Ben.Agree that the film did a good job depicting a small Wisconsin community.

I feel like this was a story that could have used a lot more refining around the edges, as to make the mystery aspect hit a lot harder and to make it more effective. As it is, it's still pretty good. I do admire it's resistance to go for easy, cheap thrills, as overall the film never goes into places that you expect it to go, or to have twists and turns that are the usual for this type of film. The acting is very good I think, all believable in their parts especially the lead actor playing Uncle John. I do think that the film would leave a lot of audiences wanting more, and expecting a lot more out of it. As it is however, I do feel like it leaves a strong enough impact to really be recommended.

I personally would call this a masterpiece. This is so well constructed and put together on so many levels. I rarely see a movie of such caliber and will see this many more times just to see how well it was crafted. This is a slow moving movie, and has many layers interweaving in and out all over the place like a masterfully scripted classical musical piece.The relationship between the boy and girl is one of the best chemistry's I have ever seen on the silver screen. I just wanted to listen to them, wanted them to be together forever. I almost felt I was in their company their level of intimacy was so real and refreshing. The acting was so brilliant most of the actors just drew you into to their world.This movie is slow, its a thinker, and will leave you thinking long after the movie ends ... and that is the brilliance of a brilliant movie.