Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Director: David Lowery

2013 / 96min / DCP

A lyrical outlaw tale set at an unspecified point in the years between Kennedy and Reagan, Lowery’s sophomore feature follows an escaped con (Casey Affleck) on a journey across the Texas backroads in hopes of reuniting with his lover and partner-in-crime (Rooney Mara) and their child, born during his time inside. The film’s distinctively murky palette was the payoff of a big gamble, with Young, shooting on 35mm, limiting himself to either natural light or light sourced from period-appropriate fixtures and pushing the boundaries of underexposure. “We wanted to make a film look really handmade in the 21st century,” Young would later explain—and the results speak for themselves.