"Sean Penn's 'Black Flies' shocks Cannes with gritty paramedic horror"

Black Flies, directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and starring Tye Sheridan and Sean Penn, is a bleak and depressing film about two EMTs making their way through a gauntlet of violence, cruelty, and blood. Based on a 2008 novel by Shannon Burke, the film is purposefully stylized and often ridiculous, with nods to Terrence Malick throughout. While there is style and skill to spare, the movie also feels like a victim of the very numbness and emotional emptiness it seeks to expose.