"A Dark Place" (a.k.a., "Steel Country") opens with the image of a Trump-Pence campaign sign placed in a vacated gas station gone bust. The setting is rural Pennsylvania where arguably the most improbable presidential political upset in American history swung in the balance in 2016.

The people of the fictional Harburg County are treated with dignity by the filmmakers. These are "the forgotten" of America, or what Hilary Clinton referred to as "the deplorables." The shuttered factories, the rabid Steelers fans, and the simple lives of garbage collectors are thoughtfully portrayed in the film.

Everyone in the town recognizes that the protagonist Donny is mentally challenged in some capacity. They also know that he would never hurt a fly, a fact that is demonstrated literally on multiple occasions in the film.

The character who most recognizes the worth of Donny is Donna, his co-worker on Marty's Disposal trash detail. Donna speaks for "the forgotten" with perhaps the most memorable line in the film when she watches as passing train and expresses the desire to either "jump aboard or jump in front." It is small wonder that Donny fantasizes about J. M. Barrie's "Neverland" in "Peter Pan."

While "A Dark Place" was overly melodramatic in the depiction of a local case of child abuse and Donny's obsessive and out-of-control actions in finding the predator, it was nonetheless a compelling film for the intricate character studies. This was a film successful not only in capturing the essence of small-town America; it was also an indelible portrait of the neglected in America that led to a subtle, populist revolution in the election of Donald Trump.

In a small western Pennsylvania town, Tyler Zeigler goes missing and later turns up dead, drowned in a river. Donnie Devlin (Andrew Scott) works for the local sanitation company and doesn't think it was an accident. Unfortunately, Donnie is not the brightest bulb in the pack. He acts as if he has read a self-help book and only recalls half. He asks questions and has access to the trash.

The story is not overly complex and neither is Donnie. Donnie manages in life caring for his mother and occasionally visiting his daughter. The film keeps moving slowly but keeps you engaged. Different type of crime drama, one where Nancy Drew got kicked in the head by a mule.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

Disregard the relatively low IMDb 6.1 viewer rating as I write this. I thought this was a well crafted story of a mentally challenged young man who wouldn't let go of a suspicion that abuse was involved in the death of a small boy. Andrew Scott portrays Donny Devlin, bordering on autism but with enough wits about to him to begin asking serious questions that will put his own life in jeopardy. Starting out, my instinct was that the crime was going to be pinned on Donny because of his feeble demeanor, but that idea quickly grew cold as the story progressed. A key to Donny's persistence was revealed in a scene taking place in his bedroom where hung a banner that read 'Never Never Never Give Up'. Apparently, that motivation was at work as Donny came to butt heads with friends and foes alike in his attempt to come up with the truth.

There are some scenarios that work against the success of Donny's mission. I thought Dr. Pomorowski spilled too much info to Donny in that meeting at his office. There was really nothing to compel the doctor to offer the information he did, he could have simply denied any sort of relationship with the dead boy's mother. Digging up the boy's body though, that was certainly more than a bit over the top, something I don't think a rational person would do, but then again, Donny was operating on a different spectrum.

There's a way I think that the story could have provided an ambiguous ending but was negated by an earlier conversation between Donny and cop friend Max Himmler (Griff Furst). It was revealed that Sheriff Mooney (Michael Rose) was a good friend of abuse suspect Pomorowski, and hence the cover up in the death of Tyler Ziegler. Had that not been made known, an out could have been provided for Donny to have been exonerated for the crossbow shooting of the doctor. In a small town off the beaten path, hunting accidents will sometimes happen.