‘Sovereign’: An Unforgettable Nick Offerman Is a Man Pushed Over the Edge by Extremist Ideals

Alci Rengifo

Christian Swegal’s “Sovereign” uses a tragic father-son relationship to provide a unique view into American extremism. Beyond a cinematic political screed, Swegal is truly fascinated by lives living on the fringes. The sovereign citizen movement is one of those particularly American strains of radicalism where paranoia mixes with our ethos of ultimate independence. It’s been around since at least the 1970s, but such modes of belief see an uptick in uncertain times. What must it be like to grow up in an environment defined by radicalism? Nick Offerman delivers a career best performance in this indie production, by seeking the humanity behind a person leaving burned bridges in their wake.

The screenplay by Swegal is based on true events. Offerman plays Jerry Kane, a widower living in 2010 Arkansas with teenage son Joe (Jacob Tremblay). Their life is disconnected from social normality. Jerry “home schools” Joe and preaches a doctrine of being “sovereign,” meaning total independence from the demands or, by his claims, artificial laws of the federal government. It’s the ideological excuse that Jerry uses to ignore the bank’s foreclosure order on his house. He makes some money touring the Midwest with Joe, giving rag-tag seminars on how to avoid taxes, the false nature of American currency and property rights. Unsurprisingly, Jerry also guests on a local right-wing talk radio show. Joe, meanwhile, yearns to attend an actual high school but Jerry warns that means signing a contract of ownership with Uncle Sam. Jerry’s strict adherence to his ideology can only protect the pair for so long before the outside world in the form of eviction orders barges in.

Dennis Quaid also has a key role as John, the local police chief whose son, Adam (Thomas Mann), is gearing up to graduate from the academy. These characters could have become mere archetypes but instead feel like genuine personalities. Offerman is the absolute standout. It would be easy to reference his Ron Swanson character from “Parks and Recreation,” who ironically styles himself as a libertarian. We forget that character because Offerman so fully becomes Jerry Kane. Swegal’s precise writing and Offerman’s performance strongly layer the character. He is stubborn and committed, yet not an empty vessel. He carries himself with a confidence that easily attracts the vulnerable, even if he’s not the leader of some organized group. He rambles memorized terms and jargon to sound like a real expert on the system, with few ever bothering to double check his rhetoric.  Most importantly, Offerman captures the core loneliness of the man. 

Like Justin Kurzel’s excellent “The Order” from last year, “Sovereign” is keen on profiling the people who find solace in radical ideas. Jerry clearly has few means in a landscape where economic inequality only deepened after the 2008 recession. Emotionally he has not recovered from losing his wife and a baby daughter, to whom he and Joe pray every night before going to sleep. The people who attend Jerry’s talks, sometimes in the backroom of a local church, clearly have similar stories to tell. They are at risk of losing their homes or struggling to find work. Devoid of the leftist traditions more common to Latin America or Europe, in the U.S. there is appeal in radical currents from the right, which espouse mutated forms of libertarian thought about living fully detached from government (while ironically claiming to be hyper patriotic). Lesley Anne (Martha Plimpton), a kind of girlfriend who credits Jerry with helping her take on the system, probably doesn’t understand much of what Kerry goes on about. What matters is that they fill a void for each other, even if it means going out for drunken gambling runs at a casino. 

Swegal never pulls the rug from under the audience with this film, meaning Jerry is never exposed as some sort of con artist. What he believes may have little connection to reality, like the labyrinth of conspiracy theories so many people consume these days, but he is indeed committed. Joe has to endure tense, often humiliating moments like traffic stops that turn into arrests because Jerry does not have a driver’s license (sovereign citizens believe it would mean a contract of debt). Joe also likes a girl who lives next door and sings in a local choir, and happens to be Black (Jerry’s circle of friends and admirers tend to be only white). Yet, how can he reach out, even on social media, when his world is so enclosed? You get the sense bringing anyone home means facing Jerry’s dense views. When we see him buying weapons with Joe, no exposition is needed to explain such a mind is a walking powder keg.

Dennis Quaid’s police chief is used to effectively mirror Jerry. Both men are hard fathers set in their ways. John lectures his grown son on always attending to his newborn when it cries (“that child is going to become spoiled”). He is there at the academy’s training sessions, almost babying him. Jerry also believes he is truly loving Joe by hammering his anti-government views into the teen and keeping him isolated. In the end both will be brought together by the sheer tragedy of chance, in a way neither could ever fathom. “Sovereign” has real subtext as it dramatizes events that would easily fit into a typical true crime drama. It doesn’t linger too much on the whole sovereign citizen movement’s backstory, or even mention it has indeed been linked to domestic terrorism such as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Swegal creates a more powerful effect by letting us get to know these American fringes through the people involved and their personal trials. In a lonely society, extremes give purpose and “Sovereign” is a good film of how easy it is to cross the line and get lost, while Nick Offerman is unforgettable in crossing that line.

“Sovereign” releases July 11 in select theaters.