There are few things in society that galvanize us more than sex offenders. Without fail, they spark talk of “lock-’em-up, lose-the-key”…they even ignite calls for capital punishment. Oddly, deciding how to punish them is the easy part: what gets tricky is figuring out what to do once they’ve served their punishment.

NO ENTRY, NO EXIT deals with the ripple-effect when German sexual offender Karl D. returns to a rural German community after serving 14 years for a vicious sexual assault. Upon his release, he moves in with his brother Helmut until he can get back on his feet. The town he returns to is understandably against him being in their midst and has organized daily protests as close to Helmut’s house as they can get. Their message is clear: “You are not welcome here”.

The story gets elevated in an unexpected way…namely the course of events for the protestors. While Karl and Helmut struggle to keep their family unit together inside the house, things outside are fracturing as well. Anytime you get a group dynamic, you’ll get multiple opinions on the best way to do things – even on how to deal with a sex offender. The result makes you wonder just how close-knit a community can be when they are willing to turn on each other, even though at first so united with a common purpouse.

NO ENTRY, NO EXIT wants us to remember a few things. For starters, in life answers are seldom simple – even when it comes to dealing with sex offenders. It also wants to warn us of the dangers of mob mentality, and that the hatred they fuel is never a good thing for the people involved. In society there is a line that divides “us from them”, and as the doc points out what ultimately makes “us” better…and able to sleep at night…is not crossing that line. Anytime we think about doing so, the results are never good.

NO ENTRY, NO EXIT plays tomorrow – 3:45pm at The ROM, and again on Sunday May 1st – 7:15pm at The Lightbox.