Bottom Feeders Review: Bleak & Bold Debut

Vincent D’Alessandro’s Bottom Feeders is a memorable debut about clawing out of poverty in rural  Pennsylvania.

The plot and story of Bottom Feeders are memorable, but it is D’Alessandro’s creativity with the technical aspects that makes his film stand out from comparable debut features.

Bottom Feeders immerses us in the life of twenty-year-old Dmitri (Will Ehren), who is adrift in a bleak world where his only anchor, his father, seems to be slipping into dementia or mental health issues. Squatting in an abandoned garage, Dmitri cannot sign on for any benefits because he is only paid cash-in-hand jobs by his father. The story takes a turn when Benny (Graham Poore), a childhood friend, returns home for a holiday, accompanied by his well-to-do girlfriend, Jess (Jenny Zwigard). Dmitri, yearning for a better life, tries to use this friendship to break out of the desperate course of his life.

What first stands out in Bottom Feeders is D’Alessandro’s stripped-back approach to dialogue. In early scenes, there’s little emotional dialogue. This restriction underscores the shell-shocked state of Dimitri’s existence. He speaks with customers at the burger joint where he works for ad-hoc wages. He also has arguments with staff at the benefits office. It’s an effective choice  that reflects a world where characters are too worn down by life to form meaningful connections.

The real storytelling unfolds through the film’s visuals. This effect is apparent from Bottom Feeders’ opening scenes, where D’Alessandro’s intimate camerawork and washed-out cinematography convey the realities of Dmitri’s grim existence.  The camera repeatedly returns to Dimitri’s face, who, wherever he is, whether drinking cheap beer in dive bars or in the abandoned garage he lives in with father, looks resigned to his desperate situation. D’Alessandro chooses to let Ehren’s facial expressions, rather than his words, convey the subtlety of his emotions.

The camera angles powerfully capture the deep sense of claustrophobia that accompanies a life in poverty. In a particularly memorable scene at the benefits office, Dimitri learns he’s ineligible for unemployment support. The close-up shots on his face in the dimmed, sterile light of the office convey Dimitri’s feelings of being trapped as he is forced to confront his isolation. Bottom Feeders’ editing mirrors this instability, employing abrupt scene transitions that reflect the erratic, rootless rhythm of Dimitri’s life.

Bottom Feeders zeroes in on the emotional evolution of its protagonist, a man who is anything but easily sympathetic. Ehren brings sensitivity to the role and conveys the lack of confidence behind the self-defensive bravado that is constantly on the edge of sabotaging his relationships. This trait becomes especially acute when he reunites with Benny. He is full of lies that only emphasise his vulnerability. Dimitri can talk about the lingo of success and present the bravado of fake wealth. He sounds like a modern-day social media influencer when he boasts of flipping houses and side-hustles.

Dimitri is deeply flawed and prone to self-sabotage and yet the film makes you empathise with him. There are still moments when Bottom Feeders’ careful approach to dialogue falters. While sparse exchanges highlight the emotional distance between Dimitri and his father, the relationships with other characters, particularly his friend Benny and girlfriend Jess, are left underdeveloped. This is most evident in a sex scene that lingers without generating a sense of intimacy, and in Dimitri’s interactions with Jess, where the intended chemistry falls flat. Whilst these shortcomings don’t derail the overall story, the actors are sometimes left with limited material to convey the emotional complexity of their characters.

Yet, despite these missteps, D’Alessandro’s Bottom Feeders demonstrates a clear instinct for what makes a film feel authentic. The cinematography is high-resolution and generates a grainy texture that maintains its realism throughout the film. The scenes shift between downbeat locations that mirror the precarious life of its protagonist, whether a cluttered garage or a dreary benefits office.  You gain a clear sense of the mundanity of Dimitri’s life without it descending into a spectacle of poverty.

Bottom Feeders avoids the all-too-common trap of offering a voyeuristic gaze into hardship.  Even as Dimitri blunders into one difficult situation after another, you find yourself quietly rooting for him. The film refuses to let him off the hook for his choices, but it also refuses to define him solely by them. For a first-time filmmaker, D’Alessandro is able to confidently use filmmaking techniques to enhance the texture and impact of his story. This is a character-driven feature that is compassionate to its subject without being patronising, and unflinching without being too dark or morbid.

Bottom Feeders is now available to stream globally on Vimeo on Demand.