North Star

A farmer is pushed to his physical, emotional, and financial limit in P.J. Palmer’s short film, North Star. James (Colman Domingo) is a farmer running out of chances. His farm went into decline after his husband, Craig (Malcolm Gets), entered the late stages of a degenerative ailment.

With having to tend to the farm along with the physical demands of his partner, James must sell his last remaining working horse, North Star, to his friend, Mike (Chris Sheffield). Hopefully, this sale will maybe save the farm. Putting on a brave front for Craig, James says nothing about their situation and the farm’s impending foreclosure.

“His farm went into decline after his husband, Craig, entered the late stages of a degenerative ailment.”

Thank God for family, or not. Back from her vacation, Craig’s sister Erin (Audrey Wasilewski) arrives with prescription drugs and IV bags for her brother. Her arrival brings much-needed relief for James and Craig, but the goodwill fades when she turns the TV on to evangelists Jess (Laura Innes) and Dr. Owen Broderick (Kevin Bacon). Erin insists that Craig live with her and her husband and reiterates that they can only tolerate their “sinful” lifestyle for only so much longer.

North Star is simply masterful storytelling, particularly for a drama. Writer/director P.J. Palmer opens with a morning on the farm and James getting ready for his work as a farmer and as Craig’s caretaker. Everything you need to know about this narrative is told with very few words but in the deliberate and measured performance of Colman Domingo as James.

As a lifelong Evangelical myself, the portrayal of the Christian characters, Erin and the Brodericks, is quite biting. Yet I understand that frustration of the helpful hand that comes with conditions of repentance and the droning of obnoxious religious speech that forces God on you at every turn… cuz you can’t argue with God. The story of North Star is about a love worth fighting for.

For screening information, visit the North Star official website.