Red Road

We're back in the dark reaches of a pessimistic and aggressive portrayal of the world's "most beautiful place": Scotland. In Ryan's words, it can be a terrifying place. Andrea Arnold's slice of Cinema Verité inspired by the Dogme 95 aesthetic and film movement, really puts you in a scary place that is equally horrifying and mesmerizing. As a counterpoint to the last film we covered, this is also a film about watching people, innocently enough through the eyes of a CCTV operator, but how, through this character's trauma, how that power is easily manipulated for her personal gain. This is a fascinating piece of cinema and one of the strongest debuts from a first-time director. Enjoy this incredibly dark and uncompromising film at your own peril but you won't be disappointed.