Jeff Nichols first movie sets the overcast beauty tone of his more widely released films. Very interesting story and characters, beautifully shot and incredibly acted by Michael Shannon, Douglas Ligon, and I kind of enjoyed the very small parts of Shampoo by G. Alan Wilkins and Shannon's character's estranged significant other Annie played by Glenda Pannell.

My only issue with the movie was that it was a little tricky to follow how the characters were related. I was confused about whether Michael Shannon was the father of the two men he lived with or the brother (he's the brother), or if the woman who says his dad is dead is his mother, sister, or estranged wife (mother or step-mother), and it took most of the movie for me to realize that the three men he and his brothers fight with are their half-brothers. Even with that confusion, I really enjoyed it. I think a more seasoned Jeff Nichols would have snuck a couple more lines of dialogue in or just flashed some text on the screen to show who everyone was when they showed up.