Hesperia

After a long stint in L.A. that included a career in porn, filming exclusively with her childhood sweetheart Ian (Nathan Hosner), Claudia (sharp and radiant Kelly O’Sullivan) has returned to the small-town Midwest seeking redemption. She finds it, maybe, with a dorkily affable teacher and youth minister nicknamed Trick (Erik Hellman). Randall Colburn’s nuanced, nonjudgmental view of sex and Christianity remains as refreshing as it was 18 months ago at Right Brain Project, but his interim revisions and Stuart Carden’s ideally cast production have deepened the admirable, multifaceted uncertainties in his script. Carden’s subtle shifts of tone and pacing are just right, while each of his five splendid actors strikes gold.