Van Sant’s amoral thriller is an abstract lesson in Western indifference and lack of culpability; a story immersed in the minutia of a self-repressed teenager’s life.

Rudderless Alex is attracted to a skateboarding park that separates men from boys, but when a friendship ends in tragedy, he is unable to process much less reconcile events or shape his response. Quite simply, Alex does nothing. But can youth excuse murderous behaviour? Van Sant leaves judicial choices to the viewer.

Paranoid Park loops, ducks and weaves about the topic while building an impressive head of steam. It’s a subtle approach that quietly expands the tone of Elephant with some success. Although a twang of the recognisable haunts his production, DOP Christopher Doyle (Rabbit Proof Fence) brings unique visual energy to a style that oscillates between bewildering and bewitching.

A cast of newcomers lend substantial weight, mesmerising in their tangible, irritating, somewhat irrational ingenuousness. The familiar tone will distance some viewers and Van Sant’s refusal to judge Alex will alienate others. Those who see Paranoid Park as a timely exploration of failing innocence will find no fault.

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