Filmed in 2002 but only just now being released on DVD, writer/director Michael Almereyda's hypnotic portrait of a not-too-distant future has an inescapably somber air – the city in which Almereyda's casual mystery is set is a pre-Katrina New Orleans. An odd, fragmented snapshot of the Crescent City, Happy Here And Now is less concerned with telling a linear story and more infatuated with fashioning weirdly poetic vignettes that culminate in an unexpectedly transcendent finale.

Consisting of a series of loosely connected vignettes, Happy Here And Now follows Amelia (Liane Balaban), freshly arrived in New Orleans to find her missing sister Muriel (Shalom Harlow) – working with former CIA agent Bill (Clarence Williams III), Amelia discovers connections with seedy exterminator/softcore pornographer Eddie (David Arquette), a drifting relative (Ally Sheedy), a world-weary fireman (Karl Geary) and a defensive, one-eyed widow (Gloria Reuben). Relying upon an online roleplaying program that warps reality, Amelia chases her AWOL sibling down the rabbit hole, conflating her surroundings with a bizarre cyberworld.

New Orleans cultural oddballs Quintron and Ernie K-Doe make cryptic appearances, further heightening the defiantly abstract film – limned with the faintest strands of narrative, Almereyda's relentlessly strange tapestry has a fatalistic air considerably amplified by the recent onslaught of hurricanes. Given that the nightly news was rife with disturbing, surreal images, nothing in Almereyda's film can even come close. Happy Here And Now is edgy filmmaking not suited to all tastes and those willing to take the plunge may find their patience and tolerance rewarded with a subtle sort of wonder.

The Video:

Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the film has a hazy, just slightly out of focus feel that adds much to the vague sense of disorientation that pervades Almereyda's woozy Nawlins odyssey. Soft, slightly murky and often lacking crispness, this is far from reference quality but given the film's intentions, a sufficient transfer.

Mostly comprised of characters espousing prosaic dialogue, the film's spare Dolby 2.0 stereo soundtrack is serviceable – no dropout or distortion mars the loquaciousness. It's as with the visuals – OK for what the film is attempting to accomplish.

No supplements here – just trailers for The Edukators, 8mm 2, Novo, Me And You And Everyone We Know, Single White Female 2: The Psycho, The Baxter, Sueno and Heights.

Quirky, stylized and shot through with an inescapable air of tragedy, writer/director Michael Almereyda's kaleidoscopic mystery Happy Here And Now lingers like a lucid fever dream – willfully obtuse and narratively fragmented, it's a film that will appeal only to those interested in giving over to this hollow but unforgettable film. Recommended.