A new girl joins the working girls at a rural truckstop. As a one-line summary it is not the most appealing for a short film, and you may be surprised by the film it turns out to be. Instead of being sordid or depressing in its grim, the film allows most things of sexual ease and violence to occur out of shot. The truck stop is filled with anonymous truck cabs, the mist and limited lighting means people disappear out of sight for their acts, and there is much of ominous stillness. Very like a David Lynch film, there are shots inserted that suggest something coming, and the soundtrack does the same. It is engagingly unsettling and I really enjoyed it.
The plot is not as strong but the tone keeps it working. The direction of the character starts to become clear and the film opens up into weirder territory. Personally I took the film as the journey of the lead character. She is nervous and new. We see her settle in and somehow it feels like she is at any job - you get used to the conditions eventually. The film does this with nice touches, but the "office job norms" of lunch together, a leaving card etc really push this point. The loss of this girl into the darkness is the ending. I didn't see it as witchcraft or supernatural; I saw it as her embracing the darkness of her 'job', owning it and giving herself totally to this terrible world. She will be powerful even if it is only by comparison with the other powerless people around her. Her proactive taking of a John (including her coming out of the moment first) is where things finally start to burn. She has 'transcended' into a stronger character within her world - but it is a destructive transcendence.
Technically it looks and sounds great throughout, giving it the great tone that serves the film and material really well. It is not an easily accessible or instantly rewarding film, but I enjoyed its approach to the subject and the clever/surreal way it told its story.
