This is low-budget film-making at its best. Steven Soderburgh directs and Coleman Hough writes.

Martha (Debbie Doerbereiner), a middle-aged woman who lives with her ageing father, goes off to work everyday in a doll factory and sews dolls’ clothes at night. The only other significant person in her life is co-worker Kyle (Dustin Ashley), a much younger man, who lives with his mother. They are the working poor of America.

Along comes Rose (Misty Wilkins), a young woman hired by the doll factory to help with extra orders. Energetic and talkative, she plans to get out of the dying mid-western town they live in. Her presence not only shakes up the status quo, but also brings the possibility of dating into Kyle’s world, which has so far been non-existent. However, not everyone likes the status quo shifting.

None of the people appearing in this film are professional actors, but they are realer than real. Debbie Doerbereiner as Martha is particularly good, her surprising innocence and acquiescence a strong focus for the camera throughout. The setting is superb, with a sense of decay and a feeling of little or no infrastructure. Nor is there anything to compensate in the surrounding countryside, which is flat and sparse. The doll factory is also used to great effect.

There is a sense of deep repression and tedium in much of the film, which is very real, but threatened to become a little boring. Just when I felt my concentration slipping, though, the story turned unexpectedly.

This is well worth seeing. The cinema was packed and the vibe was good.

Bubble screens with Red, a French-Canadian short film directed by Maxime Giroux. Probably the most succinct and to-the-point portrayal of alcoholism, alienation and depression that you are likely to get in 16-minutes.