For many families in the suburbs of Los Angeles, their peaceful middle-class existence is just a facade. What lies beneath is sheer domestic turmoil: Teens addicted to drugs, breaking the law and engaging in violent outbursts, and parents at their wits’ end. Interventionists, like Evan “Bullet” James and Dana “Hodges” Goller, specialize in entering these suburban homes during the night ripping troubled teens from their beds to transport them, against their will, to a reform school in Utah.

Crafted in director Jon Bang Carlsen’s signature hybrid style, the film is about the complicated relationship between parents and children and how the wounds we incur within our families can seem the hardest to heal.

This story is fundamentally different from the type of story I normally do. I’m not used to chasing dramatic events with my camera. I’m used to shooting in places where nothing happens and the fact that a camera crew is coming ideally serves as a welcome diversion from the day-to-day. In that way, most of my films have been a kind of game, both behind and in front of the camera. But you definitely can’t say that about Just the Right Amount of Violence. On the contrary, it was a struggle to even get anyone to come forward.