Roberto Minervini's The Other Side, a documentary about a small group of poor Louisianians, is as raw as a plate of tuna tartare.  This portrait of life in the deep South does not shy away from any aspect of how these people live.  Minervini shows one of the primary subjects, Mark, naked and laying in dirt only three minutes into the film.  His choice to leave their lifestyle uncensored is key in portraying these people honestly.

Admittedly, there are portions of this film that were tough to watch without cringing.  A scene in which a pregnant stripper takes heroin, and then performs in front of several men is among the more horrifying scenes.  The film is filled with enough racism, un-simulated sex, and hardcore drugs to make Quentin Tarantino squirm in his theater seat. These moments of unaltered depravity are used to show the reality of life in some of the poorer areas of the United States.

Minervini also includes moments of genuine emotion from these people, canceling out any indications that they are hollow, human stereotypes.  These are the high points of this documentary.  It is completely compelling watching a meth-addicted felon talk about how much he adores his mother, or watching a rugged, toothless man from the depths of the South cry over a likely Pinterest-inspired poster that he received from a little girl.  Clearly these are not overly good people, but they have a goodness inside of them.  Their attempts at getting clean or avoiding jail are equally inspiring and depressing.  Minervini does an efficient job of not demeaning his subjects.  He instead tries to place them on a common ground with the rest of humankind.  This is mostly successful despite the fact that the haunting scenes heavily outweigh the heart-warming ones.

The Other Side reaches a satisfying, cinematic ending to the story that the film focused on initially.  Then it abruptly switches settings to a group of pro-gun activists training for an expected firefight.  This short segment acts as an epilogue, but does not garner the same emotional resonance as the first hour of the film. Nonetheless, it is still a fascinating look at a similar group of people.  In a perfect world, the latter section would have been fleshed out a bit more, but as is evident by the subjects in both segments, this is not a perfect world.