Burrowing

A disjointed and dreamy evocation of the predominantly antisocial inhabitants of a small Swedish suburb which takes its visual and narrative cues from films like Harmony Korine’s ‘Gummo’ and David Gordon Green’s ‘George Washington’ while managing to surpass neither in the interest or originality stakes. The three key characters include a destructive young lad who seems strangely detached from his family and peers, a dim-witted father whose lack of parenting prowess means that he changes his young son’s nappy in the middle of a busy car park and old man who quietly fishes using a stick with nails attached to the end. The haunting male-voice choir soundtrack and crisp Steadicam photography lend it a technical cohesion, but as drama it never really takes shape.