Thou Shall Help Others, Maybe; ‘The Overnighters’ Looks at Migrant Workers

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jeannette Catsoulis

HOLLYWOOD---“The Overnighters” is an onion of a movie. Composed of multiple layers — more than one of which might bring tears to your eyes — this shape-shifting documentary begins as one thing and ends as quite another. Straddling both is Jay Reinke, a Lutheran pastor whose small town in North Dakota has been overrun by thousands of migrant workers drawn by the booming oil business. What emerges is a blue-collar meditation on the meaning of community and the imperative of compassion, one that endures even as an unexpectedly prurient drama unfolds at its center. [link]

“The Overnighters” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Sex is discussed, and individuals are menaced by gun and broom.