Condola Rashad in Bikini Moon (Flix Premiere)

This unsettling and cerebral genre mishmash of documentary, found footage, fantasy, and family drama revolves around a documentary film crew following an enigmatic and mentally unstable homeless veteran named Bikini. What starts off as a seemingly straightforward narrative about filmmakers trying to document the life of an abused woman with a haunted past slowly devolves into a potent satire on the white and upper-middle-class savior-complex.

Bikini, played with impeccable intensity by Condola Rashad, is constantly living on the mental edge. Her wide, curious eyes and mischievous smile belies a hidden fire. Her bipolar behavior gives one the impression that she’s a ticking time bomb ready to blow. Yet she never does, at least not without reason. Bikini simply wants to see her daughter again, who was taken away from her by social services. And the film crew that follows her doesn’t really help much.

The documentary’s director is Trevor (Will Janowitz), and, like lots of urban gentrifying yuppies, he deplores the materialism and banality of the suburbs. “I’d rather live in a homeless shelter than the boring suburbs,” he says with apparent indignation. He’s trying to use Bikini to make his cinematic masterpiece and hopefully get into Sundance.  By any means necessary.

Meanwhile, his girlfriend, Kate (Sarah Goldberg), is of a similar suburban, middle-class type. Although Kate’s heart seems to be in the right place, her relationship with Bikini borders on the condescending. There’s something incredibly insincere and superficial about her yearning to “save” Bikini. Eventually, the narrative weaves further into the absurd and the incredibly tragic.

Among many things, what stood out most about Bikini Moon is that it shows how good intentions don’t mean jack. Without the proper empathy, without the unrelenting dedication to truly understand somebody, good intentions simply lead to an ego-stroking train wreck that destroys all in its path.

However, the film’s fractured structure and tonal inconsistencies may put off viewers. Scenes cut at random moments, and the time line often jumps from month to year without a sense that much time has passed. Hence, for some, it may be hard to emotionally gravitate toward any of the characters, even to one as compelling as Bikini.

Nevertheless, for those looking for an unconventional film that jumps from experimental meta-documentary to straightforward fictional drama, Bikini Moon is worthwhile and challenging.