The real life story of 4 teenagers and how and why they murdered another teenager.

Dark, ultra-real, intense, disturbing, Fishtown is distinctly uncomfortable reading, but in a good way.

It's uncomfortable because it's important.

It's uncomfortable because it holds a mirror up to the darkness we all have inside us but most of us can keep under control. It shows us what happens when our natural controls are released, through heroin and desperation and adrenaline, and that darkness floods out. It shows us the consequences.

The whole thing is done as a series of interviews interspersed with flashback, which works perfectly for the context. It's gritty but it's gripping. It feels unreal but you know it's real and the dialogue enhances the effect; it never feels out of place or unnatural and just works. It sounds like how people in desperate situations really talk. There's no "epic" lines here.

Reality doesn't need them.

The art adds to the whole experience. It's a duotonal sketchy style that wouldn't work for everything but here it adds depth and atmosphere to the proceedings. The sketchy style adds to that claustrophobic feeling of intense reality and dark things lurking within the human psyche.

So in short it's dark, powerful, poignant stuff. Highly recommended on every level.

10