LITTLEROCK

USA, 2010 (83 min.)

Dir. Mike Ott

DON'T MISS!

The Japanese brother and sister who've broken down on their way to Manzana, California-landing temporarily in unattractive little Littlerock-can barely speak the English of the desultory native teenagers and the slightly menacing older guys they hang around. Almost all the dialogue is blocked: One person speaks and the other has no idea what's being said. The gaps that open up are where the subtle thrum of this drama sneaks up on you. On the surface, it's a road movie about Japanese teenagers witnessing the United States for the first time. But it's also a love triangle, a portrait of the forms bigotry takes in the past and the present in California, and an extended portrait of a beautiful teenage girl. (JEN GRAVES)

HARVARD EXIT Fri May 27, 9:30

ADMIRAL Sat May 28, 3:30