If the failure of systems ensures people fall prey to unorthodox ideologies that are counterintuitive to the “American dream,” is there any way to pull them back? Better yet, what does the “American dream” even mean other than being a phrase? Christian Swegal’s “Sovereign” begins with an ominous illusion that it’s somewhat based on a true story concerning a deadly shooting that happened in Arkansas in 2010. As to who was involved and the causes in which they tragically perished, the film unravels its circumstances from two different perspectives. One story mostly takes center stage over the other in an insightful, yet limited, examination of the principles of the sovereign citizen movement and their generational consequences for a father-son duo.
Jerry and Joe Kane (played by Nick Offerman and Jacob Tremblay) have fallen on hard times. Their house is foreclosed on, and they have 30 days to make a payment to the bank or it will be auctioned off. Joe is a teenager who is caught in a state of suspension, wanting to have a regular life. He has a crush on a neighbor next door and might not want to be homeschooled. However, Jerry is very much entranced by the pseudolaw practices of the sovereign citizen movement. He believes taxation is illegal and banks are illegitimate in practice; thus, he refuses to make payments on the house. Doesn’t carry a license, but elects for “travel documents.” Jerry also feels the public school system is a means of control. As a result, Joe’s teachings are split between a social studies notebook he’s long completed and the many ruminations of his dad’s learned credo. When Jerry is not appearing on a weekly radio show to spread the information he has learned, he travels to other southern cities to hold seminars with Joe as his understudy.
“Sovereign” / Photo Credit: Briarcliff Entertainment
The people who attend these gatherings are in somewhat similar positions to Jerry’s. The recession era drama presents people who have lost their jobs, homes, and have seen their living expenses increase exponentially. In Jerry’s case, he used to be a roofer who has now resigned his life for “freeing others” from government tyranny. Swegal’s film later reveals through conversation that Jerry and Joe experienced a significant loss in their family. The circumstances surrounding it are what have catapulted Offerman’s character into a constant feverish state of paranoia, defiance, and perhaps psychosis.
“Sovereign” doesn’t merely focus on this one family, however. There is another set of characters (albeit with a little less time to flesh out the details of their story) in the form of police chief John Bouchart (Dennis Quaid) and his son, Adam (Thomas Mann). Adam just had a baby while becoming a police officer. John is emotionally distant from his son and even implores him to use the same principles with his newborn. With a little more time, the film could have explored how these systems, whether occupational or political, trickle down from one generation to the next. At least with the Bouchart’s, Swegal scratches the surface. They are merely meant as convergence points for the film’s tragic third act.
Offerman and Tremblay’s portrayal is the emotional tissue that moves the film along up to a certain point. With Tremblay, his character is caught seeing his father fall further into a conspiratorial chasm from which he can’t climb out. This is all while he is trying to figure out the right path for him to take. The audience sees Joe longing for another life, but can’t drive himself to abandon ship. Offerman’s Jerry is a power keg ready to blow. It’s almost as if he’s looking for a reason to give the pain he’s experiencing and inflict that back into the distorted world he sees. There’s very little more for warmth to reside in Jerry, only a sense of duty, of impeding the system he feels failed him. The only instance of happiness comes from his companion, Lesley Ann (Martha Plimpton), who seems like two people who need understanding from another adult.
The film hints at possible dissension between Jerry and Joe as the son grows into his own voice. Perhaps that could have been a moment where Jerry could have thought twice. However, the film sacrifices an examination of its material for a decision that occurs right before its final standoff. It’s shocking, heartbreaking, but also hard to track the thought process behind why the particular path was chosen.
At “Sovereign’s” end, people have been failed at the altar of many things beyond their control. However, there are clear-cut reasons why this is the case, and the film elects to keep them ambiguous. It undercuts the unsettling imagery at its conclusion, leaving the viewer with more questions than definitive answers – knowing they can be pushed to the forefront.
“Sovereign” premiered at 2025 Tribeca Festival. It will be released on Friday, July 11, by Briarcliff Entertainment
