Although the film never fulfils the promise of its elliptical, mysterious opening - the drama occasionally lacks momentum as it proceeds towards some sort of resolution - there's no denying its intelligence, compassion and assurance.
Overview
A single mother and her embattled son struggle to subsist in a small Mississippi Delta township. An act of violence thrusts them into the world of an emotionally devastated highway store owner, awakening the fury of a bitter and longstanding conflict.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Debut writer/director Lance Hammer has rendered [Ballast] with something that can only be called radiant austerity.
This ostensibly simple film evokes whole lives in 96 minutes, and does so with sparse dialogue.
This is a cinematic tone poem, where the dominant mood is a Faulknerian mix of sorrow and endurance...
What this unclassifiable story may lack in decibels, it has in emotional depth.
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