Writer: Zach Gayne (Screenplay)
Starring: Jeremy O Harris, Alex Essoe, Jasmin Kaset, Makenzie Green, D.C. Paul, Rachel Cederberg, Robbie Bruens
Plot: A transient road film featuring an array of young drifters wandering throughout the U.S. with varying degrees of purpose, or lack-thereof , “States” is a multifaceted meditation on freedom – via Twain, Kerouac, Altman, Linklater… – and an outsider’s love letter to America and the searchers of its endless highways.
Tagline – It’s not where you’re going…
Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Drifters Stories
Story: States starts as we meet four drifters first a man who wakes up stranded in Mexico, needing to get back across the border before getting home, secondly we have Rachel (Cederberg) who is hunting for aliens, trying to get herself to Roswell, thirdly Simon (Harris) who is trying to get across country being picked up by two ladies Jaz (Kaset) and Kenz (Green) who take a shine towards him and finally Grace (Essoe) an actress that has been studying for her latest role who takes an uber driver Frank (Bruens) across America. As we follow the different drifters we start to see how the people they meet are not always the ones they look like on the surface and the drifters wonder if they can make it to their locations or not.
Thoughts on States
Characters – We do meet a lot of characters along the way here, we have the drifters that are trying to discover themselves, while trying to get to a new location cross America, some of the drifters just want an honest journey, while others have their own plans, but some of the people they meet have other ideas about why they will pick up the strangers.
Performances – The performances in the film a solid enough, we do meet a lot of characters which does make it more difficult for us to see any other cast truly shine in the film, but nobody seems to put their foot wrong.
Story – The story here follows a group of different drifters on their adventures across America, we do jump between a large number with more random ones being added right to the end of the film too, none of these stories seem to be connected which doesn’t help us want to follow any of the stories more than the others. We do have some interesting stories which could have done with having more time placed on them, only they seem to get left to focus on other stories too. It would have been nice to see more time on some of them though.
Adventure/Comedy – The adventure shows us just how many different drifters can find themselves going through on the way to making a difference on their trips, while the comedy can come from the colourful characters we meet along the way.
Settings – The film is set in a range of different locations around America which does show just how far these people will go for their next adventure.
Scene of the Movie – Rachel’s adventure.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too many random adventures.
Final Thoughts – This is an interesting look drifters in America, we have plenty of stories that show just how far the people are looking to go for adventures.
Overall: Drifters 101