The Overnighters - Documentary

Started by wilder, August 28, 2014, 11:20:55 PM

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wilder





Broken, desperate men chase their dreams and run from their demons in the North Dakota oil fields. A local Pastor risks everything to help them.

Directed by Jesse Moss
Release Date - October 10, 2014 (NY), October 31, 2014 (LA)




wilder


wilder

So many movies and documentaries struggle to make a story of something because there isn't enough. This is real, these are real conflicts and people baring their souls so nakedly that the material almost doesn't even need to be architected to have impact. Many of the people featured in the trailer only appear for a shot or a single scene and yet their stories imprint on you regardless of their brief involvement.

These people have no hubris, their pride is gone. They're so broken that they'll trust anything and that level of vulnerability makes it extremely compelling. There are so many things going on in The Overnighters. Questions about the limits of goodwill - when does goodwill become self-serving? Of ego, of people's obligation both to each other and society as a whole -- the contradictory conclusions and impossible answers to these questions. The shadow of Magnolia looms large. It made me hark back to Jim Kurring's line "What can we forgive?" in more ways than the trailer can possibly reveal...the characters struggling to forgive the people in their pasts who wronged them or that they wronged...to step outside themselves and show humility enough to do that...or to have permission and compassion lent them enough to do it at all.

You really won't see the ending coming, nothing could indicate it, and while there have been a few criticisms that the film's final revelation is an unwarranted and sudden left-turn, I felt it fit the preceding events perfectly and left me with even more to think about. The Overnighters is among the very best movies of 2014. Steer clear of spoilers and give it a watch.

classical gas

^^^ Spot on!  This movie is fantastic!  And it's on netflix instant too.

03

man im so hyped you said something everyone else already knew! you da shit breh!

classical gas

Everyone else already knew that it is on netflix or that it's good?