The most acclaimed of Tarr's early works, Prefab People is one of cinema's most profound examples of social realism, capturing in its improvisational acting, kitchen–sink aura, and gritty handheld camerawork a portrait of life and a sense of rage that only John Cassavetes or Ken Loach equals. The theme is universal, the dissolution of love between a young married couple stuck among countless others in a bland, prefabricated housing complex. Beginning with a climactic break–up, the film snakes backward to reveal the stress, monotony, and deprivation that pushed the lovers to the edge. Tarr refuses the typically linear narrative, instead giving us fragments, moments in the life and death of a relationship, that build upon themselves until only a sense of hopelessness remains. While using a professional cast for the first time, he (rather sadistically, some might say) cast real–life married actors and their children, and asked them to improvise their arguments and scenes from a loose theme. Judit Pogány, as the wife, responds with a performance of searing intensity.