Following Donnie Darko, director Richard Kelly found himself with a larger budget, a mandate for artistic freedom and a wave of hype, which he surfed to Southland Tales: an incomprehensibly convoluted espionage thriller and a biting satire of consumerist imperialism, hidden under layers of millenial irony, Lynchian dream-logic, and military-industrial anxiety.

By casting actors who were 'celebrities' (The Rock, Justin Timberlake, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, that guy from American Pie and a host of TV character actors) in the majority of roles, Director Richard Kelly pushes the theme of Identity - what it means to be someone, to represent something, to believe in something - to the fore, while laying bare the rot at the heart of the American Empire.

Set in a dystopian near-future (2008!) where everything from the gamification and commodification of war to the dumbing down of mass media is amplified, with McCarthyism, designer drugs, esoteric politics and remote surveillance all running rampant. An apocalyptic plot is set in motion featuring movie stars, the intelligence service, shady billionaires, radical insurgents, sex workers, movie stars, potheads and slam poets.

Booed at Cannes, pilloried by Ebert and marketed with a poorly conceived expanded graphic novel tie-in leading to a critical and commercial flop, this movie remains misunderstood and unfairly maligned but, still, a singular work of visionary insanity and the most accurate portrayal of post-9/11 America ever produced by Hollywood.