Treason

The main character in writer/director Eric Depriester’s Treason would be a good recruit for the Sovereign Citizens movement. If you are not already aware of them, allow me to introduce you. In a nutshell, this group of people subscribes to a dubious doctrine of (mis)reading the common law. The laws of the land that ordinary folks abide by don’t apply to them, unless, of course, the laws work in their favor. Sovereign Citizen videos are great fun to watch online because these deluded persons are forever erroneously quoting laws they learned in legal studies classes at YouTube University to outsmart the cops and get out of traffic infractions. These videos often end with an oh-so-satisfying window smash!

Grant Wilson (Jeff LeBeau) has manufactured his own similar movement. Grant and his religious wife, Candice (Dalia Vosylius), over-it teenage daughter, Savannah (Emma Center), and military enthusiast son, Kyle (Colby Rummell)-live a secluded life out in the desert. Here, Grant has set up the sovereign nation of Kallipoly, complete with its own constitution and a national flag.

“…Grant has set up the sovereign nation of Kallipoly, complete with its own constitution and a national flag.”

Grant thinks of himself as some sort of generalissimo. He rules his house with an iron fist and flashes his own manufactured currency at the local bar where he indulges his serious drinking problem, much to the chagrin of the frustrated bartender. When the bartender refuses to accept Grant’s “money,” Grant asks the bartender if he is really interested in starting an “international incident over two whiskeys.” This guy is nothing if not committed; which is exactly what everyone in the area thinks Grant should be.

International relations between Kallipoly and its neighbor, couple Raymond (Ra Hanna) and Vanessa (Felisha Michelle Cacho), have been sour ever since Raymond brought to Grant’s attention that his yard fence is ten feet deep into Raymond’s property. As Grant’s tenuous hold on his nation, not to mention his sanity and his family, begins to unravel, strained diplomacy between Kallipoly and its neighbors threaten to ignite World War Three.