With his latest effort, director Ulrich Seidl has drawn a line in the sand.

And like all the other great makers of confounding cinema, he has chosen a side, then blurred its markers. Leaving the viewer unable to join him, the director becomes invisible, impossible to find. We are left only with what we see: the film at hand, a fascinating portrait, at times hard to watch, of lives in some very real and very desperate circumstances.

We follow two such stories that share a similar geography, Austria and the Ukraine, without ever intersecting. Seidl employs a masterful control over his technique, at times echoing the more outer realms of Germanic greats Herzog and Fassbinder. There is much here for fans of odd realism. Extra points for actually showing an adult diaper change. But don't let that dissuade you. There is a lot to take in with this one. These moments are grounded in life, and Ulrich has a knack for leaving just enough dignity to make them bearable. Fans of Harmony Korine or the Dardenne Brothers take note!!!  -Merrick