Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
District is about Miller (Brandon Anthony), a black gay man trying to escape poverty in Atlanta. His best friend, Jayvon (Jeffrey Erskine), is a junky who frequently comes by looking for food and a place to sleep. Although Miller gets upset with Jayvon for stealing from him and being a junky, he feels that he can’t abandon him because they have history.
Miller’s mother is in prison, and he visits her often. She tries to get Miller to open up about what’s going on in his life, but he often holds back and leaves out the parts she won’t approve of.
When a job opportunity comes his way, Miller sees it as a way to become self-sufficient. And although his boss has some shady dealings, he tries to look the other way. Miller becomes conflicted when his new boss and co-workers try to convince him to compromise his values to become financially independent.
Some Thoughts:
Although District has many flaws, its sense of purpose rings clear. The acting isn’t great, but I’ve seen far worse in films with larger budgets. Director Anthony Bawn knows how to make a film with a limited cast, it’s the script, which he wrote with Tyson Anthony, that needs help.
Miller finds work in construction through a group of shady people, but the illegal activity these people are in isn’t clear. And not only that, the connection between them and the construction job isn’t clear. They have lots of money to throw around, but we never see them actually doing anything illegal that generates income.
Because Miller is out to Jayvon, it seems as if he’s not living in the closet until we see him hanging out with other people. And when Miller’s mother asks if he’s gay, he refuses to answer her. It’s a heartbreaking scene that resonates.
I spent most of the movie wishing that Bawn had given the story more thought. Miller is supposed to be struggling with his sense of dignity and self-worth, but the people he’s supposedly hanging out with never feel dangerous. Part of that is because we don’t know what these people expect from him. They never come out and ask him to do anything illegal, it’s all suggested.
The Final Verdict:
District would have been a better movie if the script and story had been given more thought.
