Humboldt County

Peter (Jeremy Strong) is a repressed UCLA med student who finds his inner voice after spending time in the nurturing company of some Northern California pot farmers in an inspired independent comic drama filled with nuanced performances and delicate narrative touches. Writing/directing team Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs show an in-depth knowledge of the story's milieu, set in a redwood forest overlooking California’s Lost Coast region where a close-to-nature family of marijuana farmers grow just enough to enable them to subsist in their peaceful surroundings. Patriarch Jack (well played by Brad Dorif) is a former physics professor living with his loving wife Rosie (Frances Conroy), their reckless son Max (Chris Messina) and Max's preteen daughter Charity (Madison Davenport). The fish-out-of-water story shows the potential for a specific environment to transform an individual's consciousness, while never glamorizing or preaching the influence of marijuana. It's a gem of a film rooted in the reality of familial bonds and shifting emotions.

(Magnolia Pictures) Rated R, 96 mins. (B+) (Four Stars)