We just got home from our first of five festival films: 3 Needles (imdb | tiff) was the latest from Thom Fitzgerald. Two years ago we saw another of his films — The Event, which was also about AIDS — but this newest one was on a much larger scale.

Several people make poor choices throughout the film, which causes others to pay with their lives. Some are aware of what they’re doing, some have no idea. Some may know but are are so desperate they put aside their conscience for money.

The film was definitely impactful. It was more than a little uncomfortable at times (I never thought I’d see a woman chew through her baby’s umbilical cord). It was just too long, and too scattered. The reviews I’ve read so far were right: Fitzgerald has a great movie there, he just needs a good editor.

Rating: 7 out of 10.
Star power: Chloe Sevigny, Shawn Ashmore, Sook-Yin Lee. Michelle Trachtenberg was in the audience, sitting behind us somewhere, even though she’s not in the film.