Above and Below

Clearly inspired by the films of Errol Morris, director Nicolas Steiner's documentary Above and Below serves up a profile of five people living “off the grid” in contemporary America. Army veteran Dave Reesey has turned an abandoned military bunker deep in the California desert into a ramshackle house—outfitted with solar power—where he lives a solitary existence, tinkering with his vehicles, watching the sunrise, and ruminating on various things. Another vet, April Davis, has joined the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, where volunteers simulate manned expeditions to the Red Planet in preparation for the real thing. Meanwhile, Rich Ethredge and Cindy Goodwin, two homeless people who have become an affectionate married couple, live below the streets in the drainage tunnels beneath Las Vegas, and are relatively content with their lot. Also living there is Edward Cardenas, aka “Lalo the Godfather,” an undocumented immigrant who has become the unofficial “mayor” of the underground community. The five talk some about their past—Dave regrets the fact that he has never seen his granddaughter and describes his failed marriages, while April recalls the horrors of her army service, and Rick and Cindy reminiscence about folks who formerly lived with them in the tunnels. Mostly, however, Steiner simply observes these damaged individuals struggling to survive on the edge. Recommended. (F. Swietek)