Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This review may contain spoilers.Here are some notes I took while watching the film in real time. ( / indicates break in time taking notes)Tone deaf. / Backwards plot, point? Casting? Three comedy actors for a crime drama. / Bad child actor, unrealistic writing for a kid / Stilted acting. / Why weren't there any police/FBI staking out Andy's house if there's a 10 state radius highway check? / He just left the house no problem When did cop get shot, why is he a part of the case if his brother is a key suspect? Conflict of interest. / FBI guys are completely stupid, you have to be smart to be in the FBI I'm pretty sure. / Gloves??? Crime scene?????? / Prediction: Rainn getting shot at the end by someone other than Ed. Brother perhaps? Deputy? One of them is in bed with the Hispanic lady. / Static shots of people talking... but cameras can actually move. / Gay prostitute because it's shocking and weird! Makes the character less sympathetic, cheap trick. Cliché that politician has a gay lover/man ho. / Very stilted acting, writing is not great at all. / When you poop it makes gross farting sounds every time! / Why was there blood pooled at the bottom of the stairs? Nobody tracked any blood, body was upstairs. (blood on bag maybe?) / Guess gay kid had time to wipe from massive dump cause that's a clean booty. / Amazing timing with radio, why didn't they just have the radio on and have them wake up when they hear their names? / There are no stakes/suspense when you know each new character introduced dies. / Is this a comedy or a drama? Jokes don't fit anywhere organically. Everything Stephane says is sarcastic, trying too hard. / Not local, it's a federal crime to rob a bank. If sheriff is so smart, how'd he not know that? Guess they just give up and let him take the case involving HIS OWN BROTHER robbing a bank. / What is the point of putting a mannequin in your bed if you live alone? I guess that's just Chris being dumb. If the highways are all blocked why wouldn't the airports be as well? Getting passports are a wast of time. / How did none of the bullets hit Steph? Was behind a cheap motel wall against 9mm Uzi rounds at the least, .45 ACP at most. / Motivation for an upper middle class prosecutor to rob a bank? Why is Rainn so aggravated with family for no reason? / Prediction: Is it not Ed's kid too? Why is she more upset and claiming he wasn't? Not his kid, affair. / Prediction: The look Steph gave when Rainn was trash talking his brother - they're banging and he is covering for her. Maybe his kid? Possible revenge against Ed/Chris/Rainn/judge for the kid dying. Got confession from Rainn earlier in film in a conversation that had nothing to do with kid dying. / Don't hold a gun like that. / Stilted acting again. / Brain matter? There would be brain matter there in the pool of blood. / Filling in a hole as big as a car would take for-freaking-ever.No reason for backwards plot besides reveal that Ed died much earlier and they have same tattoo for some reason? Could've concealed the death better while keeping forward moving plot. Some points could be attributed to sheriff controlling where police are, etc. but still does not explain away that THIS IS A FEDERAL CRIME and that the FBI 100% have jurisdiction.Those particular FBI guys had no reason to be in the film, didn't move plot forward in the slightest. Only were there to frustrate me. Also what is Rainn Wilson's character's motivation for robbing a bank? Seems pretty well off. Great sheriff who murders people for justice. We never had a chance to root for him. Literally called the twist 15- 20 minutes in. Comedic stuff was a waste in a story about a sheriff who had a bastard with his friend's wife taking revenge on the friend, his own brother, a judge, and some idiot for accidentally killing the bastard child, undermining his own job and everything it stands for.

No spoilers here. Like Memento, it's written to be watched twice. The writing is tight and smart, nothing is wasted, though that might not register until the second time through.Both bleak and comic, it is a genuine mystery, in that clues and red herrings are carefully planted throughout, with a big reveal at the end that is genuinely surprising. The storytelling architecture is very satisfying. You are not emotionally invested in any of the characters. This is by design, the structure pretty much guarantees it, and it's a good thing. Though it works backwards, it goes day-by-day, not sequence by sequence, so while you are kept engaged in figuring out what's going on and who's who, it's easy enough keep track, you're never at sea. There's plenty to enjoy the first time through, but much of the early content, and many of the "jokes" -- it's very dark, but they are a kind of jokes-- only hit on second viewing. It's a new kind of thing, straight to streaming, the cinematic equivalent of a straight-to-paperback noir. Made cheaply enough that neither the cinematography nor the acting seek to wow you (though they do get the job done) so it's not like a movie. But it's not like TV either, it's not looking for ratings, it doesn't have to go big-hit-or-die, it doesn't need a sponsor, it can be its own thing, the story they wanted to tell, everything's in there they wanted, nothing is in there they didn't want. I liked it a lot. I probably wouldn't have watched it again, but there were special circumstances, and I'm really glad I did.

This comedic crime picture chronicles the aftermath of a foiled bank robbery, but in reverse, one day at a time.The recipe which involves the humorous blunders of very dumb criminals and the cops who are after them has all the pulp, but none of the juice or the sugar to make it much good. The reverse time gimmick doesn't make the story anymore interesting, because it never feels like a story worth telling. The payoff for each chapter is merely to tell us who got killed and how. If only we could care. Shimmer Lake has virtually no respect for its characters so neither will most of the audience. Their one function is to be laughed at. Shimmer Lakes one achievement is that are a few moments that prompt giggles. Worst of everything is Shimmer Lake is the acting, which delivery and reactions that at times seem intuitionally phony. The way Rainn Wilson's character holds a gun in one scene is so ridiculous that it can serve no other meaning than to tell us that he's never held a gun in his life. The catalyst for the whole fiasco involves the death of a child that is never even explained let alone shown to us. All we get is a wide shot of a burning cabin. Shimmer Lake does itself no favours by cutting this backstory out of the movie.The finished product plays like a student production made by students who spend more in the movie world than the real one. It's hard to imagine ho this movie got sold.

Many lines were brilliant, with satisfying performance the movie caught my attention till the end and got me well there. Seriously though, this is a drama/crime but definitely not a thriller. They were probably just having too much fun with those lines without even trying. Cinematography could be better if some more hand-held and close-up are used. Overall, it is an excellent black humour, and I will certainly watch it for a second time.