Waste of time. Waste of money. Waste of talent. Granted this may be on a somewhat superficial level.

On a deeper level it's a boring slog. That said, there's room for some pretentious interpretation, like social criticism. Unfortunately, I didn't think the topic was conceptually interesting enough to engage with it so I was bored instead.

The ending was a relief to be honest. I felt the same relief I Imagine the people taking part in these games must feel after 100 hours. Only, the movie sapped out 2 out of me.

Greetings again from the darkness. Thanks to the onslaught of 'Reality TV' over the last decade, we seem to have lost empathy for those whose lot in life has driven them to submit to acts of desperation in hopes of finding a way forward. Writer-director Bastian Gunther has used the real-life east Texas events featured in the 1997 documentary, HANDS ON A HARD BODY, to create a drama depicting the fallout from such extremes.

Kyle (Joe Cole, "Peaky Blinders") is a down-on-his-luck local guy with a wife and young daughter. Life is hard and he's desperate to improve their way of life. However, he's such an honest and good person that our impression is that he's one of those who just gets continually kicked while down. When Joan (Carrie Preston, "True Blood"),in her role as Public Relations Director for Boudreaux car dealership, announces a contest to win a new pickup truck, Kyle sees his chance to make things better for his family.

If you have read about the dance marathons held in the 1920's and 1930's, or seen Sydney Pollack's film, THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY? (1969),then this "last person standing" concept will be familiar. A lottery is held to select twenty people who will compete for the vehicle in a test of endurance: they must keep one hand on the truck at all times, taking only short breaks with no chance for sleep. The expectation is that this could last 100 hours, with sleep deprivation and psychological willpower certainly in play. It's a diverse group of twenty, and mind games are afoot, especially by one of the participants, Kevin (Jesse C Boyd) ... one who no one recognizes.

Since watching people stand around touching a truck lacks cinematic drama, director Gunther infuses some of Joan's less-than-stellar personal life, while also offering tidbits on some of the participants. Much of the focus is on Kyle, even as exhaustion, hallucinations, and health issues begin to creep in. The opening segment provides us with a Google Earth-type lay of the land in this rural community, and we quickly understand the stress of poverty - a stress that is eating away at Kyle.

A surprising plot twist with one of the participants elevates the tension, but it's not until the final act where Gunther follows an unconventional structure that is downright confounding. We believe our story will end when the truck is awarded to the last one standing, but that's not what happens. It's an unusual story structure and one that's challenging to deal with as a viewer. The characters feel real, and having been inspired by true events, the "hands on" competition is believable and uncomfortable to watch. This is a different kind of storytelling as it turns the familiar rural community trope sideways and shakes it up.

IN THEATERS, ON DIGITAL AND ON DEMAND APRIL 14, 2023.

In a small town in Texas, an annual endurance contest in which contestants have to keep their hands on the body of a new pickup truck may offer entertainment to spectators and the chance of a lifetime to participants, but things spiral out of control.

If you've seen Hands On a Hard Body, you know how these contests work. German director Bastian Günther takes that idea and turns it into an examination of several people and their reasons for this test of will.

The player destined to win seems to be Kyle (Joe Cole),an unemployed local with a young wife and baby daughter. He seems obsessed to get the Nissan truck to the point that he begins to lose his sanity. There's also a churchgoing woman named Ruthie (Lynne Ashe) who has her Bible and fellow worshippers on her side. They are amongst the twenty people gathered by Maria Parsons (Carrie Preston),the happy go lucky divorcee who has been doing this contest for years, but has never had one turn out like this.

The end of the film gets beyond dark, but it's left to the viewer to wonder if it's happening or the flashback shows what really happened. But real life is just as bleak. 24 year old Richard Vega threw a garbage can through the window of a K-Mart next door, walked to the sporting goods section and stole a shotgun. He was stopped by police before he could leave, at which point he shot himself. He had consumed six energy drinks over the past several hours and seemed like the most driven of all the people trying to win.

The idea of people doing anything for a prize while everyone watches won't go away, particularly as the elite and lower castes grow further apart in America. The truck salespeople have already made it; they're not giving an opportunity to the twenty people fighting against exhaustion to stand next to a truck. They're giving us a way to stare and watch people fall to pieces.