Photo courtesy of Ragtag Cinema

Sun Don’t Shine begins by dropping viewers in the middle of a disconcerting roadside situation. Something’s happened. That much is clear. But there’s no indication of what set the two characters off.

The story — of this fight, of the overall narrative — unfolds slowly, bits and pieces cropping up occasionally as Crystal and Leo keep on the move, running from something that they never can quite shake. Writer and director Amy Seimetz leaves plenty unaddressed in the story inspired by her own recurring nightmares that have tormented her since a girl, but the holes don’t prohibit understanding. Fear is universal.

Like the other films in Ragtag’s Homebrewed series, Sun Don’t Shine is an American film with a minuscule budget. Seimetz’s vision came to fruition with a cast and crew in single digits (many of them with Columbia ties) and she captured the entire feature over just three weeks of filming in her St. Petersburg, Fla. hometown, a fact she revealed herself in a post-screening audience Q&A, perhaps the best part of Ragtag’s inspired event. The films are, understandably, the centerpiece, but the opportunity to interact with the creators brings it to a new level of intimacy you won’t often find outside of Homebrewed.

Ragtag’s film series returns next Wednesday with The Wise Kids, a film of self-discovery when sexual identity and religious beliefs clash.