It seems like no matter where you look in the news there’s a piece about political extremism and different views within society. There’s no doubt that we’re in the middle of a politically turbulent time. But what the mainstream news often doesn’t cover is the smaller factions within society, some that are even more extreme than most people even know about. Included in these smaller groups is the Sovereign Citizen movement, a group of people who feel their own beliefs are greater than that of the societies and the government has no control over their lives or how they should live within their communities.
You may have heard of a case or two of someone claiming to be a Sovereign Citizen, by refusing a ticket because the police didn’t have any jurisdiction over them. But what exactly Sovereign Citizens are and how they choose to live their lives and operate isn’t something that is as publicly known or recognized. In the new film Sovereign, that was released by Briarcliff Entertainment, the movement is getting it’s big screen debut showing the extremes of the movement and the costs it can have on members.
Based on a true story, the movie follows Jerry and Joseph Kane (Nick Offerman and Jacob Tremblay) as they navigate the world around them as Sovereign Citizens. As Jerry tours the country Sovereign Citizens movement, his son Joseph is left home without food or any formal education. Jerry starts to bring his son on the road with him to help with his seminars, only to find himself put in jail. While he’s incarcerated, Joseph is given his first taste of the world outside of the movement, education and socialization with kids his own age, and starts to question his father’s life choices. But this doesn’t last long before he’s thrown right back into the isolation of his father’s creation.
The movie is a bit of a slow burn, but focuses heavily on the issues that are within the Sovereign Citizens movement and the negative effects it can have on the individuals as well the society around it. It also leans very heavily on the “sins of the father” ideal and trope with the consequences being very apparent for both Jerry and Joseph. There are points that make you question if the objection to the government worth the battle the men are going through, or if it’s just being used as a cautionary tale.
The portrayal of Jerry by Offerman was well cast. Offerman uses his gruff and everyman exterior to portray someone who can slip in and out of society but leans towards the extreme politically. It shows you the range he has and the counter intuitive nature of these character to the comedic side we often relate to him.
Sovereign is currently playing in theaters.
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About Sovereign
Inspired by true events, SOVEREIGN is a tense and provocative true crime thriller about a father and his teenage son — Jerry and Joseph Kane (Nick Offerman and Jacob Tremblay) — who follow the Sovereign Citizen belief system, a deeply anti-establishment worldview rooted in distrust of government authority. As the pair travel across the country delivering self-taught legal seminars and pushing back against systems they believe have failed them, their journey brings them into conflict with Police Chief Jim Bouchart (Dennis
Quaid), setting off a tragic chain of events that forces a reckoning with power, principle, and the limits of freedo