Writer-director Nick Cassavetes takes a viewer into a heart of darkness that exists right in Southern California's San Fernando Valley among mostly white, suburban young people adrift in a sea of drugs, sex, booze and violence. Traditional social structure has broken down, replaced by a hedonistic youth culture and "gangsta" lifestyle utterly lacking in any moral sensibility or control. Critical acclaim will help, but the film's dispassionate point of view might cause mixed reactions.

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