Austin Film Festival Preview: Little Fish, Strange Pond

A murderer with a well-dressed conscience, bloody humor and plenty of existential meandering characterize Little Fish, Strange Pond, an Austin Film Festival Narrative Feature. Directed by the aptly named Gregory Dark and starring Matthew Modine, Callum Blue, Adam Baldwin and Zach Galifianakis, this film explores the cruelties of modern society and the ways they manifest through the behaviors of a few seriously screwed up characters.

Dark and screenwriter Robert Dean Klein depict Los Angeles as a sunny but utterly desolate place where moments of everyday dullness can quickly and easily become scenes of mayhem. Baldwin's character, a not-so-sterling cop, works to solve the case of a missing woman as Mr. Jack and Sweet Stephen (Modine and Blue) wander through a series of absurd and tension-filled scenes while waiting for their own sort of Godot.

Little Fish, Strange Pond is the kind of film that asks more questions than it answers and it may very well leave you feeling slightly queasy. Even Galifianakis' presence can't counterbalance the general unease that watching this film inspires, but his performance as a deep-thinking porn shop owner is a bright spot in an otherwise demented tale.

Little Fish, Strange Pond appears as part of the Narrative Feature Competition of the Austin Film Festival. Check out the full AFF schedule here.