It stars Daniel Spencer as the titular character, a teenager whose life spirals out of control after experimenting with drugs with schoolmates.

In the days leading up to the Iraq War, Robert Carmichael is an introverted middle-class youth and talented cello player who is bored by his existence in the coastal town of Newhaven.

Joe's cousin Larry returns to town after serving prison time for drug possession and aggravated assault.

[4] In a post-screening Q&A session, director Thomas Clay and co-screenwriter Joseph Lang defended the graphic violence by insisting that they wanted to evoke how rape is used as a weapon in the wars of Bosnia and Iraq.

"[6] He concluded that the film's "combination of high arthouse ambition, uncertain acting and brutal violence left me with a nasty taste in the mouth".