The Five Rules of Success

We are first introduced to X, an enterprising ex-con (a magnetic Santiago Segura from MTV's Scream), in an evocative tracking shot as he leaves prison after serving his time. With the odds stacked against him, X sets to rebuild his life against insurmountable odds. In his third feature, Orson Oblowitz uses the backdrop of a crime picture to inquire into the inequality of the American justice system within a corrupted social landscape. Visually and narratively expressive, the film draws us deeply into X's passage through purgatory in his quest for redemption. Inspired by Sion Sono's Hazard, The Five Rules of Success is a brightly saturated, phantasmagorical journey into the depths of Los Angeles's underbelly. (Fantasia International Film Festival)