Movie Review: SOVEREIGN

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: July 29th, 2025 / 03:05 PM

SOVERIGN movie poster | ©2025 Briarcliff Entertainment

Rating: R
Stars: Nick Offerman, Jacob Tremblay, Dennis Quaid, Martha Plimpton, Thomas Mann, Nancy Travis, Jade Fernandez, Chris Greene
Writer: Christian Swegal
Director: Christian Swegal
Distributor: Briarcliff Entertainment
Release Date: July 11, 2025 (theatrical, VOD)

SOVEREIGN begins with the words “inspired by true events.” Those interested in the facts surrounding Jerry Kane, played here by Nick Offerman, and his son Joe, portrayed by Jacob Tremblay, can easily find information about those events online.

The movie, written and directed by Christian Swegal, begins with a 9-1-1 call from an upset witness, reporting a shootout involving “some guys” and two police officers.

We then flash back to what led to all this, starting at a suburban house with a lot of junk on the front lawn. Inside, we meet sixteen-year-old Joe, who is on his own to answer questions when a police officer and a bank official come to the door, wanting to talk to Jerry.

This is because Jerry is seriously behind on mortgage payments, to the point where the bank is going to repossess the house in thirty days if he doesn’t pay. They are offering a “keys for cash” settlement in the meantime.

But when Jerry gets home – he’s been on the road, doing “motivational speaking” – he informs Joe that they neither need to pay or move. Jerry, who has homeschooled Joe since the death of Jerry’s wife/Joe’s mother, insists that they are “sovereign citizens.”

This, to Jerry’s mind, means that he needs to be either left alone or interacted with in a way that acknowledges the U.S. government and the state government do not have jurisdiction over him. He’s got an interpretation of the law that he is willing to take into court. Jerry’s problem is that the U.S. government, the state government, and at least the court judge we see do not concur with (or mostly even comprehend) Jerry’s beliefs.

We see some of Jerry’s “debt reduction” seminars, which involve telling poor and disenfranchised folks in various cities and towns that they are being ripped off (as indeed they often are) and steps they can take to keep their belongings, which occasionally work.

Meanwhile, we’re introduced to Police Chief John Bouchart (Dennis Quaid) and his son, newly-minted police officer/new dad Adam (Thomas Mann). The two clash over parenting issues – Adam picks up his baby every chance he gets, while John thinks the baby should just cry himself out – but on the whole, it’s a solid and loving relationship.

Since we know where this is headed from the opening scene, we are waiting for certain pieces to fall into place, and they do. There are rough parallels in the father/son relationships, though we get a lot more formative sequences between Jerry and Joe than between John and Adam. Simply trying to parse whether we should have more of the latter, or if SOVEREIGN makes its point about comparisons without it, or in fact what that point may be, is something of a head-spinner. Perhaps this is good: it certainly gives us food for thought.

Something else to ponder is exactly what SOVEREIGN is trying to say about Jerry and those who agree with his (real-world) movement. Yes, his life’s circumstances have made him desperate, but there are a lot of desperate people out there who don’t insist that, in essence, two and two equal five and others must respect their opinions in this matter.

Offerman brings enormous sympathy and humanity to Jerry, who in other hands might come off as a conman. Tremblay’s work as the intelligent, deeply conflicted Joe makes us ache for him. Martha Plimpton has a small but impactful role as one of Jerry’s supporters. Quaid has authority and conviction as John and Mann is the soul of affability as Adam.

SOVEREIGN is a revealing and sometimes wrenching portrait of a specific mindset and where it can lead. It’s just hard to tell if its refusal to address certain matters is encouragement for viewers to contemplate these at more length, or a form of pulling punches.

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