Uncertain

Cannily interweaving its personal stories with a vivid depiction of an eco-system on the verge of collapse, Uncertain marks an outstanding feature debut for its documentarians.

In another director’s hands, the residents might be labeled “eccentric” and condescendingly depicted for laughs, but Ewan McNicol and Anna Sandilands approach this touch-and-go community with curiosity and humanism, capturing what feels like a deciding moment in a series of struggles so far off the grid, they would otherwise escape our notice entirely.

While scenes of the lake and land are magnificent, there are repulsive sights and stories, too. Whether inspiring or upsetting, all feel authentic.

It’s a fantastic piece of observational filmmaking about a small town on the edge of Texas and three of the men who live there.

Uncertain is a vivid, pungent ode into a world that is fast disappearing.

Uncertain is a film content to be small, one that knows that every atom is a universe.

Uncertain is somber and effective work of mood and tone — a study of time and place, biography and geography that offers a slice of life that’s perhaps cut a little too thin.