King Jack Trailer (2016)

Trailer for King Jack, starring Charlie Plummer, Cory Nichols and Christian Madsen.

Jack is a fifteen year-old boy stuck in a run-down small town. Trapped in a violent feud with a cruel older bully and facing another bout of summer school, Jack's got all the problems he can handle. So when Jack's aunt falls ill and his runty younger cousin must stay with him for the weekend the last thing Jack wants to do is look after him. Unfortunately. no one really cares what Jack wants. Set over a hazy summer weekend, King Jack is a tough and tender coming of age story about friendship and finding happiness in bleak surroundings.

Considered an adventure-drama, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival over a year ago on April 17th, 2015. After struggling to find a domestic distributor, Well Go USA, known more for distributing Asian cinema, picked up King Jack for distribution.

It is odd that the film would take so long to come to the states, considering that it completely won over audiences and critics during its festival run. Variety was so impressed that they concluded that Felix Thompson is the director to watch. Strong acclaim, considering this is his first feature film.

When you have a film such as this -- you know, the one that rides a tiny thread between drama and adventure while also making a social statement -- I can see why you need to use some critical acclaim to get the marketing across. The trailer for King Jack is dependent on critical acclaim, a cycle of visuals and emotional music. What Well Go USA didn't find too necessary in their marketing pitch was dialogue.

Why normally we'd ask what the film was trying to hide, this looks like a top-notch drama. I'm not all that familiar with the title star Charlie Plummer, but can understand why he already has three more features in post-production.