The buzz around Monster's Ball resulted in a belated U.K. release for director Marc Forster's 2000 debut, Everything Put Together. But the reason the film did not find a distributor previously is not difficult to see, as it features no name actors, is unashamedly experimental, and tackles the dour subject of a mother (Radha Mitchell) trying to come to terms with the death of her new-born baby.
While Mitchell's performance is impressive, the film has little new to say and is let down by Forster's use of odd camera angles, speeded-up footage and rapid editing to convey emotion, instead of trusting his competent cast.