Stop me if you've heard this one: A team of three intrepid twentysomething filmmakers set out to create what they hope will be a revealing, award-winning documentary. When events suddenly take a bizarre and lethal turn, the filmmakers discover that they have now become the subjects of their own project, and their creative resolve begins to crumble around them.

Don't fret... before you assume that we're dealing with yet another clone of a certain witchy box-office wonder, rest assured that one-line synopsis of SHORT SIDE OF NOTHING is where the similarities between the two films end. There are no supernatural forces, shrieking accusations, stick-figures, allegedly missing filmmakers or "lost" footage. What we do get in this intrepid little pseudo-documentary is a lot of despair, anger, fear, paranoia, tragic death and good old inevitable fate. The horror is different, but it feels just as real... if not more so, as this story comes from a very real place.

Nevertheless, this is a work of fiction, presented upfront as an actual documentary - in the opening titles, the sole credit goes not to Arizona-based writer/director Phil Garcia, but to one of the characters, Anna Corrin (played onscreen by Katherine Wendt). Anna is the creative force behind a socially-conscious video diary, which tracks the troubled life of young junkie/prostitute Talia Baca (portrayed by pixie-cute Australian actress Brooke Paige Anderson). Talia is, to put it mildly, a mess. She relates a sad tale of becoming pregnant at age fifteen, being subsequently thrown out of the house by her abusive mother (who retains custody of Talia's son), shacking up with her deadbeat boyfriend Kevin (Alex Quattlander) and turning to streetwalking to support their mutual heroin addiction.

As if that weren't enough warm, fuzzy fun, we learn that Talia has been approached by sinister porn magnate Rebecca Sparks (Carre Provance) to appear in a series of girl-next-door amateur sex videos for some quick cash. Thus begins a cycle we've all seen before: troubled street kid decides, against her better judgment, to take a shady gig in order to make enough money to go straight and leave her destructive past behind. If there have been any stories, fictional or not, where this ends up working out just peachy-keen for the protagonist, I certainly haven't seen one... and this sure as hell isn't one either. I'm not spoiling the fun by revealing that Talia doesn't live past the one-hour mark.

Why this is not a spoiler - and the reason this tale is unique - is because the film doesn't climax with her demise. Instead, I was surprised to discover that the plot had taken off in a new and unexpected direction: after the loss of their protagonist, the filmmakers begin to turn the cameras on themselves. In an attempt to alleviate her guilt at her perceived exploitation of Talia, Anna turns her creative energies toward finding and exposing the people responsible for her death. It's here that the film veers ever so slightly onto BLAIR WITCH paranoia turf (thankfully avoiding that film's level of shrill hysteria) as Anna's obsession at finding the culprit jeopardizes her marriage and career - and perhaps her life, as her investigation creeps closer to creepy gubernatorial candidate Rex Allen (Sandy Durko). Thankfully without sliding too far into high-level conspiracy shenanigans, the film takes on a gritty journalistic edge that stays just inside the realm of credibility - aided by strong performances by the entire cast and an astute sense of the slow-reveal, much to Garcia's writing credit.

This one came to me out of the clear blue, in the form of a screener with no promotional build-up whatsoever, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. My initial trepidation at what seemed to be yet another Reality-TV inspired DIY project (I feared it might come off like a bad HBO documentary) faded away quickly as I felt the same emotional pull experienced by the characters, who not only lose their professional objectivity, but begin to suspect that their project may not be the only thing in jeopardy. It's obviously not the cheeriest film I've seen this year, but it's definitely one of the most compelling, and manages to take a rather worn-out concept in some surprisingly new directions.

As this review is based on a promotional screener, I can only judge it based on the merits of the film in its current state (there were no chapter stops, and the only extra was a trailer), but in that regard, I have no major complaints. The fullscreen DV presentation varied in image quality, but I believe this was the filmmaker's intention to employ different tape stocks and shooting styles to realistic effect: for example, most of the footage documenting Talia's day-to-day life is shot in a hand-held "gonzo" style, apparently using available natural light (or the lack thereof, in the case of many night scenes where the action often takes place against a black screen), whereas the more formal interviews and news archive footage are more carefully lit and composed, often with the camera locked down. Sound quality varies for much the same purpose, although there is decent stereo presentation of music and looped sound effects - both of which are rarely used. The overall effect is often disorienting, but unsettlingly realistic.

Thanks to an intelligent concept that examines the dark side of the DV documentary revolution, lifted by excellent performances - the actors improvised from a loose outline rather than formally scripted dialogue - this is a strong and compelling film that's well worth a look. You can pick up the DVD through the official website at touchofevilproductions.com.