Vera Brunner-Sung’s BITTERROOT is a slow burn indie with a mostly Hmong American cast set in rural Montana. Wa Yang gives a subdued performance as Lue, a janitor who gets laid off from his job shortly after his wife leaves him. He takes care of his ailing mother, works their stand at the farmer’s market, and goes to the Karaoke bar by himself, always singing Paul Young’s Everytime You Go Away.
The beautiful landscapes are juxtaposed by the forest fires, which appear to be on everyone’s mind. Brunner-Sung keeps the film restrained and in minor key all the way to its satisfying, if somewhat predictable, ending.
