‘Sovereign’ – A Chilling Glimpse Into Anti-Establishment and Government Mistrust
The fresh release, ‘Sovereign’, made a quiet entrance during a weekend, echoing a chilling, real-life ordeal from Memphis, which left a profound impact nationwide and keeps reverberating today. Two law enforcement officers and a pair of citizens dubbing themselves ‘sovereign’ perished in a 2010 West Memphis traffic incident. The movie revolves around a fearsome encounter between officers and followers of a perspective the promotional team labels as deeply anti-establishment, entrenched in a mistrust of government power.
With the ‘deep state’ concerns, the J6 upheaval and consequent pardons, ‘stop the steal’ election myths, ICE actions, controversies around Epstein files, and more that twist the current socio-political climate, ‘Sovereign’ could not be more relevant. On a day in late Spring, May 20, 2010, a white Plymouth Voyager bearing Ohio license plates, journeying eastward on I-40, gets flagged down as part of an ongoing anti-narcotics initiative.
Operating the minivan was Jerry R. Kane Jr., 45, a ‘sovereign citizen’ who claimed he was not obligated to follow government rules. Kane had no driver’s license and hadn’t correctly registered his vehicle. However, he was carrying a pending out-of-state arrest warrant and a block of marijuana.
The highway encounter that ensued after the minivan was flagged down at Exit 275 devolved into a skirmish, after which Kane’s youngest, 16-year-old Joseph T. Kane, unleashed rounds from an automatic weapon onto the officers. The policemen—39-year-old Brandon Paudert and 38-year-old Bill Evans—were fatally wounded. The gunfire resulted in Evans being hit 14 times and Paudert 11 times.
In the subsequent span of two hours, the Kanes themselves were terminated during a shootout with the police, who were able to locate their vehicle in a parking lot of a Walmart Supercenter in West Memphis. This calamity garnered considerable attention and was widely covered both nationally and internationally.
The Commercial Appeal dedicated an expanded story to scrutinize the background and influencing factors of each individual involved. ‘Sovereign’, containing ‘violence and language’, was given an R rating by the Motion Picture Association.
In an attempt to embody the authentic narrative most faithfully, ‘Sovereign’ production took place in 2024, in the real-life locations of Fayetteville, Springdale, and Lincoln, Arkansas—the staging ground for the actual finale of the true story. The motion picture maintains the original appellations of the ‘sovereign citizens’, primarily concentrating on the Kanes, but directing the law enforcement representation towards an invented character.
According to Briarcliff Entertainment, the distributor, ‘Sovereign’ is portrayed as ‘a tense and provocative true crime thriller’ that encapsulates ‘a tragic sequence of events, forcing a confrontation with authority, ideology, and the boundaries of liberty.’ The initial screening of the movie took place on June 8th at New York’s Tribeca Festival.
To date, ‘Sovereign’ has garnered predominantly affirmative critiques. Despite a restrained launch in the movie theaters, it will be accessible to the public starting July 11, showcased across 53 screens.