Doc Alexander, a former Special Forces operative, is tasked with brokering peace between the Mexican drug cartel and Oklahoma Governor Richard Jeffs. After Jeffs celebrates the execution of a high-ranking cartel member on TV, he learns about the peace deal his Chief of Staff and Doc have just made. However, it's too late; Cuco, the cartel's enforcer, has set his sights on Doc's daughter Dixie. The film takes a different approach from many genre films that try to create meaning by layering ideas and intentions on their narrative frames. John Swab, as always, works the other way around. By reducing the plot to its bare essence and focusing on the core trades and tricks of the characters, Swab creates a sense of depth and meaning in Little Dixie. Little Dixie feels like a pulp fiction version of a Giacometti sculpture, all fearful symmetries and mirror images. It's a gem of crime cinema at its purest and most philosophical, proudly featuring noir's new darling, Frank Grillo.