The Ramapough Indians are sick. The Native American tribe has lived on land in northern New Jersey since before the Mayflower landed, but their beautiful acres – replete with green forests and rolling hills – are poisoning them. In Mann v. Ford, directors Micah Fink and Maro Chermayeff explore the history of the people, splitting focus between the late 1960s when the Ford Motor Company began using the land as a dumping ground for its waste and near-current day when the people of the small town file suit against the company for gross negligence. It’s fairly well-tread subject matter – the kind that seems to infect a ton of documentaries each year and even makes bigger noise when a movie like Erin Brockovich (a film some people featured here are far too aware of) hits theaters. There’s nothing wrong with telling the narrative of a mistreated group of people and their lawsuit, especially if it’s a story as compelling as this, but ultimately this documentary is average in almost every way.

This movie was so close to being fantastic that it’s even more frustrating just how cringe-worthily awful it is.