What would you do if your house got robbed? For Ruth (Melanie Lynskey), it's just the capper on another crappy day full of slights and humiliations from her thoughtless fellow humans. When the equally uncaring police make it clear that they don't consider her burgled home a high priority, Ruth turns sleuth herself. With help from Tony (Elijah Wood), her oddball neighbor, Ruth tracks down her missing property and the lowlifes who took it.
Lynskey and Wood are both excellent, really disappearing into their characters. You may recognize writer/director Macon Blair, who makes a small cameo in this film, from another revenge film, 2014's "Blue Ruin." He seems to be a creative mind to keep an eye on. “I Don't Feel At Home in this World Anymore” is another festival-style, small movie that fills its niche perfectly.
Critics keep trying to interpret modern revenge and vigilante tales as cautionary tales against taking the law into your own hands. “It's not worth it!,” they say. And yet, these films keep getting made, because people have an inherent need to see justice done. Ruth and Tony do wind up getting more than they bargained for, but I cannot view the film as a cautionary tale. Frankly, I found it inspiring. In a world that seems to have lost the capacity to care about anything, it's beautiful that Ruth finds another person who shares her outrage at what is an outrageous act. She doesn't just want her stuff back, she wants the people who broke into her home to be punished for it, and I wanted it, too!
3.5 stars out of 5
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