Riding a razor edge between exploitation and art, Family Instinct is the documentary that Harmony Korine wishes he'd made. The set-up is unsettling enough -- a woman waits for her brother to be released from prison, unsure if he will return home and cause mayhem. Mix in an unforgettably motley assortment of neighbors and tenants, most drunk or high throughout the film, and you have the makings of a documentary cult classic. But what consistently elevates Family Instinct is the extraordinary sound and camera work -- this is a work as aesthetically virtuosic as the narrative is debased. Shown at T/F 2011.

"Even the most jaded viewer will get a jolt out of this almost too-intimate look at an family of Latvians living on the economic, moral and cosmic edge." (John Anderson, Variety)