A gonzo-horror torture-porn cloaked in the skin of a transgressive Bildungsroman, “Stains” tells the tale of a hideous murder in a backwoods, white-trash neighborhood.
16-year-old Erin was powerless to stop her parents from abandoning she and her siblings. She could do nothing about her older brother and caretaker, Nate, going to prison, and even less about the sexual abuse he suffered while incarcerated or the stigma that he is branded with due to his perceived homosexuality. She can’t stop him from drinking himself to death or neglecting their toddler sister. And she tries not to care; after all, his despondence just means that he isn’t poking his nose into the adventures that she and her glue-sniffing crew embark on.
But when Nate kidnaps his rapist’s teenage brother, Erin and her friends suddenly have all the power in the world. With the helpless young victim at their mercy and the whole rest of the summer to keep themselves entertained, these youths are about to learn that when even God refuses to pay attention, nothing is taboo.