Farewell Darkness

Daniel J. Pico's gutsy, low-budget slice-of-life feature Farewell Darkness observes the conflicts that erupt when a marine named Michael Pasternak (Keith Compton) returns from service in Iraq and high-tails it home to the Chicago suburbs. Tempestuous, mercurial, and dangerously erratic, Michael lingers constantly on the edge of emotional explosion; from the moment he sets foot on American soil, he swears a quiet oath to himself to settle an age-old score with his violent, alcoholic stepfather, strike up a renewed relationship with his nervous and tentative girlfriend, and collect an unpaid debt from some men in the neighborhood. Pico begins with footage of the Iraqi War (actually shot in the American Southwest) and follows Pasternak through the intense period that follows his initial homecoming.