Is “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” exploitative or enabling? On the contrary, it is friendly, clear-eyed, and wise — tender about our follies and unsentimental about where they lead us.

Less a snapshot of life on America's fringes than a bleary napkin doodle, Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets blurs the lines between fiction and fact to aptly intoxicating effect.

The sense of the watering hole as a haven for lost souls - not to mention the threat of gentrification to civic space - couldn't be more vérité.

The experimental style used by the Ross Brothers helps Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets stand out as one of the most unique documentaries of 2020.