Opening with a crazy scene of a motel crime with images you don’t see every day, from the get-go Ribbons promises to be a film where all bets are off as to where we’ll end up over the course of the runtime.

It quickly diverts us to our protagonist Vincent (Patrick Hickman), a veteran who is near suicidal after all the trauma he has experienced and has lost the reason to live. At a dive bar he meets Rachel (Haidyn Harvey), a teenager so clearly underage she has to have a backstory dark enough to lead her there. Overnight the two fall for each other, and next thing he knows, Vincent has found himself roped into a tense situation involving Rachel’s step-dad, Armenian mobsters, strippers, and cops.

While the two different storylines create for a confusing beginning, once the primary story gets underway the film finds its stride. The character of Bishop (Brian Krause), Rachel’s step-dad, gets the most material to chew as he is the definition of sleazy in every way, yet as the plot unfolds his behavior amazingly begins to all make sense. The three aforementioned protagonists are each given dynamic range and what initially seems like predictable character decisions end up having bigger payoffs later. The supporting characters are not given as much space and the secondary plot involving the cops/Armenians isn’t in the film long enough to go too in depth, but since the majority of the drama is between these three, once tension escalates it’s easy to get tied up in their story.

Perhaps the best moment comes when we realize that Rachel is more than who we thought she was. It is initially difficult to see a girl who looks so young inhabiting the world these characters live in with so much composure, but after we learn a few more details of her backstory, as well as her motivations, the earlier setups pay off. This in many ways summarizes the overall experience: the numerous rough edges are smoothed out thanks to the character layers that our protagonists are given.

Overall, Ribbons showcases the strength that a low-budget thriller should have, specifically strong developed lead characters and enough plot twists to feel fresh and keep the audience guessing. It contains serious topics such as PTSD, domestic violence, and drug use, but is best enjoyed as a pulpy thrill ride of the pure independent form.

Ribbons opens today with a limited theatrical release at Laemmle NoHo (until 4/16)