SOVEREIGN REVIEW: Nick Offerman and Jacob Tremblay Are 'Free' [4/5]
'Next Time, Aim More for the Head'
[Rating 4/5] - dir. Christian Swegal - 2025 - United States - Rated R - 1h 40m - Crime/Thriller
That Shelf originally published this review.
What happens when the perception of power grows so big for someone it leads to real world consequences?
I’m not talking about kings and queens, emperors, or presidents. I am talking about everyday citizens; people who look pretty much like you and me. I am talking about “sovereigns”. These are people who, to make it brief, like to test the limits of an extreme version of Libertarianism. The kind of brave, brave people who refer, for example, to airport ticket agents as “Nazis” for asking for ID. The kind of people who joke, “You know why they call it ‘Medical Practice’? Because they’re just practicing.” The kind of people who’ve always got the term “Illegals” within arm’s reach.
How far can an ideology go before it slams into the constraints of reality?
Is being free to do or act a certain way really the big motivator here, or is it, perhaps, the high that comes with feeling righteous hatred, and for such valiant, nationalistic reasons. If Sovereign Citizens face real push back, all the better. They are martyrs, after all. If all else fails, they can fall back on excoriating their frightened family like the authority they say they hate.
The characters that make up the majority of Sovereign are, despite their beliefs, not quite obnoxious as the above paragraph would make them seem, but they are just as dangerous and just as petulant. This is thanks to clever, well-observed dialogue and human experience from writer-director Christian Swegal, and emotionally impactful performances from dual leads Nick Offerman (his best turn in a drama, to date), and instant talent Jacob Tremblay, who also co-star in The Life of Chuck.
In Sovereign, Offerman plays Jerry Kane, a kniving, poisonous, unofficial Sovereign Citizen Movement spokesperson. Like a religious missionary, he preaches at hap-hazardly organized speaking engagements about the Movement. He home-schools his son, Joe, played by Tremblay. He breathes down his neck. He doesn’t just ask if his homework his done, he asks to see it. He asks to if his son remembered to do X, Y, and Z. And so on. As Offerman advertises a version of perceived freedom from the american government, Tremblay begins to imagine a life outside the teachings of his father. He speaks openly about wanting to apply to re-enter the public education system. He’s a little more sensitive. He likes his mom. He dreams aloud of a more traditional suburban life, and Offerman talks guns (pro), and banks (con).
The Liberal version of Individualism is very much at odds with that of a Libertarian or “Sovereign” version. One relates more to social progressivism, and philosophy, and the other relates to state interference. Offerman inhabits the all too familiar know-it-all, seen-it-all attitude of a middle aged person paired with a younger one. Offerman may know more than Tremblay thanks more life experience, but the latter’s pliable young mind, not yet jaded by a perspective at odds with the day-to-day, makes the advice he eventually finds at school as attractive and invigorating as his equally new crush.
Offerman gave us a grandpa gruffness in his career-defining role as Ron Swanson on NBC sitcom Parks & Recreation. Though the other characters perceived him as a hard-ass, it was clear that just beneath his misanthropic affect lived a loveable softie, capable of a schoolgirl giggle. Here, he clamps that playful part of his toolbox shut, and keeps only the darkest shades of gray. His sparkly eyes are dead and dark, like a shark’s. Instead of seeking blood, he seeks an unattainable and undeserved amount of respect.
Tremblay broods in a useful, believably teenage way. Even at Leonardo DiCaprio’s best, he didn’t feel teenaged. He’s an alien! Not only is he beautiful, he has forever acted far beyond his years. Tremblay, instead, embraces the mannerisms and appearance quirks typical to his age group (an attempt at a man’s swagger, an attempt at a moustache). They’re new toys for him, a successful Canadian child actor, and why not use them to spice up the acting tips he no doubt has down pat. He plays moments beautifully, including sulking in the back of a van during a tense argument, as Power Metal pumps from the crappy radio, and serves the same dramatic purpose as crickets.
Sovereign isn’t perfect. I’m unconvinced it always knows why it exists, other than to say, “Sovereign Citizens are bad,” which is true, but perhaps not worth the millions of dollars it takes to make a film to say; however, that’s a charge that can be levied against many otherwise great movies. Does art really need to say something new? Can’t it just be a reminder of what we know is right? Maybe a version of a hopeful ending is exactly what the (practicing) doctor ordered.
Martha Plimpton pops up and does a lot with a little, as she is wont to do, in addition to a few other memorable faces.
Dennis Quaid as the chief of police fulfills his role well enough, the ever-present weathered, Harrison Ford-esque mutter at the fore, this time laced with a southern drawl. The generational and ideological divide does not just afflict Offerman and Tremblay, it grips the police department, too. Quaid can’t even keep fatherly advice to himself. He believes his younger friend and colleague is treating his newborn too sweetly, presumably leaving her ill-prepared for the #RealWorld.
Writer-director Christian Swegal’s got all kinds of intersecting belief systems in his crosshairs.
There is a dread that accompanies action-drama Sovereign through every scene, reminiscent of Michael Mann (without the hearing loss).
The leads chat in roadside diners, coffee shops, churches, and cheap event auditoriums. Technically they are public spaces, but Offerman possesses a conspiratorial air no matter what he does, and that, paired with ideology at odds with reality, spells storm clouds.
Suffice it to say, the storm that arrives as the riveting third act.
Ultimately, it is worth watching for anyone into crime-thrillers, Nick Offerman or Jacob Tremblay, and-or the Reddit community PublicFreakout.
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Sovereign is in theatres July 11, 2025.
[Rating 4/5] - dir. Christian Swegal - 2025 - United States - Rated R - 1h 40m - Crime/Thriller