Pgm 15: PIT STOP / TORN & FRAYED (short)

A nuanced, honest portrayal of life in a rural, blue collar town, Pit Stop avoids stereotypes and defies expectation at every turn. The two lead actors turn in captivatingly natural performances and, as he demonstrated with Ciao, Yen Tan knows how to write appealing, sympathetic characters. It’s a film which seems to argue that if you’re feeling stuck in life, you might simply be idling at a pit stop: the brief respite before you continue on to the final destination, the place where, once you’ve arrived, you sense you were meant to be all along.

Martin, a marine who has just returned home from Iraq, is caught between two lovers, and must choose who he wants to be and who he wants to be with.