Cert TBA
82 mins
BBFC advice: TBA
"It's not on the way to anywhere... you've either to know where you are going or be lost to find it."
So says, the local sheriff of Uncertain, a town which lives up to its name on the border of Texas and Louisiana.
Ewan McNichol and Anna Sandilands' documentary was a welcome break from a post-Oscar dirge which has been occupying cinemas over the past fortnight.
They have tapped into a part of America which is a millions miles from Trump Tower. It is the hiding place of the lawless or the home of the hopeless.
This is banjo-playing, hard-drinking country where "even if you do get a job, there are no women."
That might account for one of the highlighted townsfolk literally sharing his bedroom with a dog and a raccoon.
There is no irony in the fact that the future of this town and its people is Uncertain in more ways than one,
The economy is kept afloat by a small tourist industry but that is dying because of a viral green plant which is making the waters impassable and wildlife and fishing trips on the neighbouring lake impossible.
McNichol and Sandilands have created a film which has great empathy with its flawed subjects (two of them have a past which they very much regret).
Those under the microscope include a 74-year-old who acts as a guide through the wetlands and yet his English is so hard to follow that his comments demand subtitles.
Then there is the fella who is obsessed with killing a huge hog which seems to have a sixth sense in avoiding him.
The film also alights upon a young unemployed alcoholic who is so bedeviled by diabetes that he has the word (incorrectly spelled) tattooed across his chest.
This is also a documentary of surprising beauty. The nature of the wetlands is like no other in the world with trees sprouting out of the lake and covered in foliage which looks like spiders' webs.
It is a film which anyone in faraway Washington, including the new president, could do with watching. I best most of those in DC would not recognise this America or its wretched poverty.
Reasons to watch: delves into part of America which is virtually unknown
Reasons to avoid: could do with a little more focus (I prefer narrations)
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 8/10
Star tweet
City of Uncertain, Texas– Gateway to the Beauty and Mystery of Caddo Lake