Group

Shrug off the zoom-happy camerawork and occasional, pseudo-philosophical, coffee-shop-girlie-rock soundtrack songs, and there's an explosive, riveting emotional undercurrent pulsing through this novel exercise in character-submerged improvisation. Set almost entirely in consecutive group-therapy sessions--populated by an unlikely cultural cross-section of women in various states of modern identity crises--the distinctive signature of Group is its six-way split screen through which ever-present cameras (seemingly invisible to those being filmed) capture every nuance of feeling and inner thought of the vulnerable, temperamental, incredibly well-drawn characters as they unload psychological burdens related to virginity, dysfunctional families, religion, insecurity, rape, life-changing health calamities, and more. Brave, staggeringly natural and unrehearsed performances--sustained through long, raw, single takes in which the actors clash, cry, and pour out their guts--provide the film an unnerving veracity, and some genuinely tough and poignant moments. Meanwhile, writer-directors Anne de Marcken and Marilyn Freeman offer just enough of a glimpse of everyone's outside lives (through brief interludes in which each character is alone onscreen) to anchor their personalities in reality, making them more than just an angry, obese gay punk; a duty-bound, born-again Christian; an uptight middle-ager; an emotionally frail college student, etc. While not a ground-shaking cinematic experience, Group, which features Carrie Brownstein from the acclaimed girl punk/alternative rock group Sleater-Kinney, is a modestly audacious movie that sticks in the memory. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)