Stuck (2013)

Three months. That's the deadline for Henry Robinson's short return home from four years of school and no degree. To some, he's taking a break. To others, he's helping his family in troubling times. To Henry, he's at a low point that he's not quite willing to confess to. His first steps back in his small industrial hometown are with an air of superiority from living in the city that no one is mildly impressed with. The moment his turned up nose comes falling down in the face of these unmoved townies, he's stuck in a financial limbo that he can't possibly shake. There's no exit strategy here. His brother Joey is too young to see this impending fate and his father Mike is too preoccupied in his own unemployment to recognize anything wrong with his son's situation. They're all stuck in this valley. Henry's pride is reduced to nothing when it comes to getting the work necessary in any hope of leaving his hometown permanently - the local industry recently laid off hundreds of skilled laborers going for the same odd jobs as Henry, including his own father, recently emasculated through a divorce and trying to take on both parental roles in a bipolar display of emotions. The few jobs Henry gets don't last long and always lead to him starting out at square one. The only institutions afforded to these citizens are taverns and churches. To fit in with his surroundings, Henry has no choice but to break down his preconceived notions about where he comes from to see the reason people stay, while continuing to have reminders of what else is out there. Slowly, he watches the walls close in on him with news of his former classmates graduating school and moving onto the city with jobs like there was nothing to it.