The year is 1955, and a great flood is coming to Northfork, Montana. A new hydroelectric dam is about to be installed in the mountains above the town, ready to submerge the valley in the name of progress. It is the responsibility of a six-man Evacuation Committee to relocate the townsfolk to higher ground. Most have duly departed, but a few stubborn stragglers remain – among them a priest caring for a sickly orphan, a boy whose fevered visions are leading him to believe he is a member of a roaming band of lost angels desperately searching for a way home.
Cinematography
Every shot looks like a faded Edward Hopper fever dream
Production
The flooded town set is hauntingly beautiful decay
Acting
Nick Nolte's weary priest breaks your heart without trying
Director
Michael Polish
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Polish brothers shot this in just 24 days on a Montana ranch they actually flooded for authenticity.
Released in 2003, it's a haunting premonition of the 2008 financial crisis and the hollowing out of rural America—progress as polite violence.
US
