An appallingly casual, spiteful bit of gossip-mongering is the catalyst that propels an idyllic American family into a pit of death and despair.

Things couldn't look better for Mary Bloom (Shue), a wife who dotes on her four-year-old daughter and her college professor husband Ben (Jake Weber).

But there are hints of disillusion with life, such as the fact she gave up her own promising academic career to allow her spouse to prosper.

When a poisonous neighbour comes by and offhandedly mentions an allegation that Ben is having an affair, the pernicious spiral begins.

In another time and another place, teenage killer Stephen (Fiennes), a literate ex-lag, is working on probation in a diner after being freed from jail after 15 years.

A still and centred individual, he has struck up an unlikely correspondence with a young boy who feels he can identify with Stephen's caged existence.

Although the two story strands appear to have no connection, first-time feature director Norowzian skilfully engineers a plot that puts them on a collision course.

Shue is superb as the wife whose life disintegrates after a tragedy precipitated by the false allegations against her husband, while Fiennes bestows upon his character a measured calm.

Incidental pleasures include Hopper's barfly redneck and bible-thumping diner owner Vic (Shepard), forever extolling the virtues of shepherd's pie.

Norowzian's background in commercials seeps through... the cinematic style is spare and the editing economical.

But there is real feeling and brutal emotion on show as the separate paths of Stephen and Mary converge in a slow-burning climax.

It's difficult not find yourself drawn in as the flailing plot lines are expertly tied up in this puzzling but ultimately satisfying drama.

Tim Evans