The Overnighters

USA, 2014, Colour, 100 min

When the small North Dakota town of Williston turns into a boom town due to fracking, unearthing vast pools of oil, hordes of unemployed men, some with questionable backgrounds, descend on the unprepared, overcrowded and anxious town in search of work. Only the fiercely compassionate Lutheran pastor Jay Reinke opens his doors to these men, offering them shelter and counsel at his community church. His dogged, one-man mission of mercy sets off a firestorm in Williston, with devastating repercussions for him, his family and his future. Jesse Moss’ electrifying documentary follows the twists and turns of Reinke’s crusade, arriving at a destination neither the filmmaker, nor Reinke, could have foreseen.