Buzzard is truly a Michigan story. Filmed on location in my home state—in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Allegan, Rockford, and Holland—Buzzard is a common tale of boredom and economic hopelessness in the Midwest’s “Mighty Mitten.” Not unlike Harmony Korine’s Gummo, Buzzard immediately sets the tone with some pretty brutal music—with a Chicago doom metal band called Bog Rot, and a Portland, Oregon, death metal band named Honduran. (Doom metal is slower than death metal.)

The film opens with our antihero, a coupon-clipping con artist with the excellent Polish-sounding Russian name Marty Jackitansky, smashing up a Nintendo Power Glove that he’ll later convert into a Nightmare on Elm Street–style Freddy Krueger hand. This is the boredom part. This, and everything else in Marty’s life—his boring temp job, his boring coworkers (one of whom is played by the film’s director, comedy writer Joel Potrykus), and his boring family that he often tells lies to on the telephone.

But out of boredom comes invention—watch in awe as Marty turns two boring Totino’s frozen pizzas into a sandwich filled with Doritos and Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing. And later, watch in horror as he sharpens his Freddy Krueger finger blades with a large metal file he ordered from the room service of a downtown Detroit hotel.

The economics of Marty’s world is evidenced in his super bad idea of stealing a bunch of refund checks, made out to other people, and then trying to sign them over to himself. Deadpan hilarity ensues. And nobody wins.

This article has been updated since its original publication.