For a film about rage, this is a rather chilly, uncomfortable drama. It’s inspired by the true-life story of Jerry and Joseph Kane, father and son anti-government extremists; Jerry was a self-proclaimed “sovereign citizen” who believed that the government was illegitimate and he could decide which laws to opt out of. He’s played here by Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation), giving a vein-popping, fist-clenchingly believable performance. We see Jerry’s boiling inferno through the eyes of his son Joe (Jacob Tremblay), a quiet, thoughtful teenager urged by his dad to be an independent thinker (so long as he thinks the same as Jerry).
It is Arkansas, 2010. Sixteen-year-old Joe opens the door to a sheriff handing him an eviction notice; his dad is behind on the mortgage payments. Even when he has the money, Jerry won’t pay the bank on principle. He’s a minor celebrity, a regular on right-wing radio stations, travelling the midwest in a white suit like a cheap preacher giving seminars on how to avoid mortgage foreclosures (a hat gets passed around at the end for donations).
The skill of Offerman’s performance is showing Jerry’s charisma – but also the shallowness of it. He’s every bit as desperate as the people he advises, with a terrifying streak of nihilism. Tremblay is equally convincing as poor Joe. When his dad is briefly jailed for traffic violations (he refuses to carry a driver’s licence or insure the car) there is a brief window of opportunity for Joe to escape Jerry’s conspiracies.
Slightly less interesting is the parallel drama about an old-school tough police chief (Dennis Quaid) and his newly qualified police officer son (Thomas Mann). We watch the police trainees putting each other in chokeholds – a metaphor for the film’s theme of overbearing dads. Still, this is muscular stuff, with a firm grip on your attention.
• Sovereign is on digital platforms from 15 September.
