Hick Review

Messages: Hick presents a pretty desolate world, in which people are damaged and make poor choices. But there's arguably a takeaway that sometimes, people are more resilient than they appear. And often, hope is the main requirement for that resiliency.

Role models: Luli is hardened and despairing at a young age, but she somehow finds a way to keep working and trying. Glenda tries to do the right thing, but she just doesn't have it in her to make healthy choices; she's far too damaged.

Violence: Violent scenes aren't strung one after another, but when they occur, they're wince-inducing in their brutality. A teen girl is held captive; in one scene, she's shown bound and gagged a day after being raped by her captor (the assault isn't shown, but it's implied). In another sequence, a man beats another savagely in a bathroom, pounding a door on his head over and over until he has no fight left in him; it's bloody and messy and horrid, and it all happens in front of the same teen. Earlier, she sees a horrendous fight between her parents, complete with shoving and screaming. There's also a bloody gunfight that leaves people dead.

Sex: Men and women kiss and flirt. A mother walks around in her robe, underwear visible, in front of a stranger, while her teen daughter also stands around in her underwear. A young teen poses in front of a mirror, play-acting at sexiness. Later, she asks a much older man if he finds her attractive. In other scenes, men twice her age and older ogle her.

Language: Everything from "loser" to "s--t" and "f--k." Adults swear around a teen, who's no stranger to salty vocab herself. She also uses a derogatory term to describe a man with a limp.

Consumerism: Smith & Wesson and Motel 6 are mentioned by name, and a Saltines box is shown.

Drinking, drugs and smoking: A mother and father drink to excess at a bar, which leads to a fight in front of their underage daughter, who's celebrating her birthday at the bar. (No one seems to think this is odd.) The girl is later shown imbibing beer and trying cocaine for the first time after witnessing an older woman doing so. One character has a cocaine habit.