On the Outs is a welcome rarity in indie film, a work of social consciousness that manages to be as engrossing as it is well-intentioned.

The movie evolved after filmmakers Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik spent weeks talking with girls in a juvenile detention facility, eventually crafting a screenplay based on three of the women they had met. The result is a powerful, unsparing film about three women impacted by drugs, poverty and bad decisions.

On the Outs follows three narrative threads in the mean streets of Jersey City, New Jersey. Suzette (Anny Mariano) is a 15-year-old girl who defies her strict mother by going out with, and later getting impregnated by, a smooth-talking drug dealer named Tyrell (Don Parma). Marisol (Paola Mendoza) is a teenaged single mom mired in a crack addiction; when she lands in jail, her three-year-old daughter, Autumn (Autumn Collier), is taken from her mother and placed in state custody.

Perhaps the most compelling story involves Oz (Judy Marte), a strong-willed 17 year old who sells drugs when not serving the occasional jail sentence. In spite of her criminal activity, Oz is the least passive -- and subsequently the most interesting -- of the trio of girls. Her actions mask a good heart, as she dotes on a mentally challenged brother (Dominic Colon).

While it is difficult for a viewer not to judge some of the choices these characters make, the filmmakers never do. Their stories unfold starkly, sometimes with horrific consequences, and yet On the Outs never really turns the screws and becomes overwrought. In a docudrama style complete with unsteady camerawork and an improvisational feel, the movie is more interested in texture than plot; indeed, Silverbush's screenplay relies on a few contrivances to push things forward.

The acting, which includes several nonprofessionals whom the filmmakers discovered at that juvenile detention center, is utterly convincing. Of particular note is Judy Marte, who also did remarkable work in 2002's Raising Victor Vargas.

But perhaps the finest performance is by Jersey City itself. In capturing the city's ramshackle buildings, litter-strewn back alleys and seedy parks, On the Outs builds a strong sense of place. Rather than pumping up atmospherics through heightened stylistics, however, Silverbush and Skolnik let the urban decay speak for itself. In so doing, the movie presents a side of poverty not always seen in film, namely the lethargy and stifling dullness for a section of society with limited hope and even less opportunity.

The 1.78:1 widescreen presentation is sharp, crisp and clean. The picture quality can be flat much of the time, but the moviemakers clearly are after an unadorned realism here.

The audio track is Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. While it obviously lacks sonic bells and whistles, the dialogue is easy to understand. And that's enough. Still, it is a little odd that a movie that prominently features several Hispanic characters does not offer subtitles or audio in Spanish.

A commentary featuring Silverbush, Skolnik and Mendoza is informative, wide-ranging and entertaining. All three really bring different perspectives to the mix. Aside from a few patches of dead air, this reviewer has no complaints.

An enlightening making-of featurette explains the innovative process that the moviemakers undertook. Spending many weeks visiting with young women in a juvenile detention center, Silverbush, Skolnik and Mendoza developed a screenplay based on three girls they had met there. The featurette runs 11-minutes, 30-seconds.

That's it for the more noteworthy extras. The remainders do little to enhance the movie experience.

The star of the four-minute On Location with Punky Pagan is a consultant/bit-part actor in On the Outs. Here, he takes us around the more dicey areas of Jersey City and offers a "Scared Straight" screed against drugs. All we're missing is a fried-egg metaphor.

A four-minute interview with Cookie is an unedited interview with the young woman who is the basis of the movie's Oz character.

Rapping with Don Parma is just what it says, a one-minute, 30-second time-filler with the actor who portrays Tyrell.

Slightly more interesting is a snippet of an upcoming documentary called Autumn's Eyes. Directed by Mendoza and produced by Skolnik, the film apparently chronicles Autumn Collier (who plays Mendoza's daughter in On the Outs), whose real-life mother is serving time in prison.

The DVD includes a theatrical trailer.

Rounding out the extras are previews of other Polychrome Pictures releases: A Perfect Fit, Dead Broke and Love, Ludlow.

In the making-of featurette, Silverbush says On the Outs is about "the enormous tragedy of wasted human potential." That's an apt description of this edgy, provocative film.