Came across this one by chance and decided to give it a try. This is a nicely made coming of age story that takes place in a small dead- end town in Nevada. We have seen stories like that many times before but this one still stood out for me for its feel.

The pace is just right so the film never gets dull despite the fact that it's a slowburner. The camera work is absolutely wonderful and definitely elevates certain scenes. Another thing worth mentioning is the soundtrack. If you love indie/alternative type of music (Chromatics, Part Time) you will be very pleased. The songs perfectly match the scenes. The one that especially stands out in my opinion is the desert scene with the snake, everything comes together nicely there making it almost hypnotic.

The acting is solid. Dianna Agron (The Family, I Am Number Four) and Paz de la Huerta (Enter the Void, A Walk to Remember, Boardwalk Empire) work well together and it's nice to see Dianna Agron doing something different and daring from her previous roles. The stand- out performance would have to be Chris Zylka though (Kaboom, The Leftovers), an obvious scene stealer in this one.

If you are a fan of indie films then I would recommend Bare. Just let yourself slowly be immersed in it and it will take you away a little for those 90 minutes.

I think I know what the film-makers were aiming to create here and while I enjoyed some of the cinematography, the capture of the familiar industrial urban complex highwayed out in the middle of nowhere-in-particular and a pleasantly interesting, dreamlike sequence involving sunbathing and a snake, this film fails to make real impact. I'm sorry, but Paz de la Huerta cannot act, for starters. Yes, she does have a somewhat exotic screen presence and I can appreciate why Paz was chosen for the role she plays, but the woman is just so unconvincing, passionless and dull; she merely opens her pouty lips to allow words to fall out and it's all very wooden in what appears to be a permanently coked-out zone.

Diane Agron, conversely, seems to be a good actress but unfortunately Paz made her look she was overdoing it, or taking it all too seriously. For instance, I could not believe her when her character, Sarah, tells 'Pepper' (Paz), 'when I'm with you, I feel like anything is possible, anything could happen'. Really? That's pretty generous when Diane is the one who seems the far livelier and more interesting and passionate of the two! Since when does pushing drugs on vulnerable women, living in squats and being chased by angry thugs make someone edgy and exciting where 'anything could happen' as opposed to making them a real freaking headache to have around and someone who might get themselves or you killed at any given minute?

There's not much of a story arc, and no tension to speak of so the film's resolution falls flat. Character development is poor thus stereotypes must suffice for a boyfriend, friend, work-place 'bitch', a bunch of strippers and a proverbial bad guy who wants his money.

That's all folks.

Female writer-director Leite has an interesting future. In "Bare" she stuck to the rules and never showed the girls fully nude or exposing their genitals. The heroine (Donna Agron) sniffed a powder, but apparently never sold her body to one of the revolting clients of her den-of-sin club. She preferred to romp in the desert with her bad-girl friend Pepper (La Huaz) who shares a small amount of peyote with her and ravishes her young body afterwards. We've seen Donna shagging in the car with her boyfriend, with no back-arching of the sort Pepper instigates. But eventually the two separate, and Donna goes home and hugs her mother and makes up with her boy-friend. Showing off her assets in a sex club and sniffing powders has caused her to grow up. A nice film, worth seeing.