Film noir and crime fiction are studded with examples of men whose psychosis is cloaked in misogyny, most notably the plainspoken deputy sheriff in Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me, a novel that goes deep into sadomasochism, abuse, and murder. Even the notion of the femme fatale arises from male suspicion—or outright hostility—about the opposite sex. In the awkward neo-noir Kalamity, writer-director James M. Hausler attempts to tap into that same reservoir by following two men haunted to different degrees by recent breakups. Nick Stahl stars as a young man who returns to his Northern Virginian hometown, still reeling from a relationship that fell apart on him. He discovers his best friend (Jonathan Jackson) in considerably worse shape after his own split, and the two have trouble communicating. When they go out drinking, Stahl is shocked to hear the level of vitriol Jackson spews at women of any kind, and even a mention of Jackson’s ex-girlfriend sets him off on a belligerent rampage.