A River Changes Course

This human story is profound enough to stand on its own.

Beautiful images can be a distraction in a serious documentary, but that's hardly the case here. They draw us in so we can better understand the hurtling changes that endanger the future of Cambodia and, by extension, much of the developing world.

Mam's camera work is exquisite in its immediacy and agility. One of the most striking aspects of her film is the intimacy it achieves without feeling intrusive or turning her subjects into fodder for a message.

For the most part, the narrative here feels generational, representative, rather than invested in the specific incidents of specific lives.

A delicate documentary about a way of life that's slowly disappearing, yet gives way to nothing new.

Honest and well made but lacking a strong hook.

Prospects are dim no matter where these people choose to reside, and A River Changes Course captures their struggle with an ethnographic gaze that generally maintains enough detachment to avoid excessive, judgmental handwringing and heartstring-tugging.