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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Good things come in small packages. For a short film running at twelve minutes — more or less –, Polaris Banks’s Reklaw contains many great things. The man is the director, writer, and editor, but he is also one of several stars in this creative project. In this movie, Banks is at the forefront opposite from acting legend Lance Henriksen. I was fortunate to have seen it before the South by Southwest festival, and I have a lot to say.
Plot Summary
Reklaw follows a group of pacifistic vigilantes gathered together to rid crime scenes of evidence. In doing so, people involved in such crimes are given the chance to avoid time in prison by rehabilitating in the real world. However, one mission puts the team to the test when they find a criminal returning to the scene of a murder.
Lott (Henriksen) is a former prosecutor who grants each of his team members freedom and offers them redemption. Bangs (Scott Allen Perry) can be seen as the high spirits of the group, while Wylie (Michael Schnick) is the watchful eye. Then, there is Donna (Clara Francesca Pagone), who may come off as weird but has underlying layers of autism and some trauma. Lastly, there is Misanthrope, or “Missy” (Banks), whose name is self-explanatory. Removed from their respective institutions, they all don masks and become vigilantes in attempts to make the world a better place to live.
Melissa (Tasha Guevara) has a romantic affair with a man named Clifton (Michael Cortez). What begins is a lovely dinner at a restaurant ending in consent to fervent sexual endeavors leads. Although, what follows is someone waking up in a bedroom by a stiff corpse and an even more rigid corpus cavernosum.
Analysis
Banks’s short film is many things, but a mess is not one of them. In creating the vigilantes’ masks, the filmmaker pays homage to mid-20th century popular culture. Rather than masks to cover entire faces, he makes use of special glasses as if to say, “See no evil.” In Lott’s case, no one is truly evil. In his eyes (no pun intended), he sees human beings who are still children at heart. In addition, Banks knows when a moment in the story’s writing is meant to possess levity and when a moment should take on shades of gravity. He does this through Bangs in his mission to clean up Melissa and Marshall (Bill Stinchcomb)’s home. Perry’s character makes a few jokes here and there to show us there isn’t much to be afraid of.
More importantly, this juxtaposition between morally good and morally bad is made prominent in Lott and Misanthrope. With the angel-and-devil-on-your-shoulders trope, Banks is able to step back and give viewers a new angle at perceiving it. As the voice of reason, Henriksen’s character holds some of the best lines in the film. Aside from his monologue at the film’s conclusion, one of my favorite lines is this:
Punishment without love behind it, you’ll come out worse. Everything you need for rehabilition is out here.
However, Misanthrope seldom has regard for other human beings. He does see some hope in Donna and makes some lowkey connection with her, but in the end, he makes a choice that the entire team will have to deal with.
Overall
Polaris Banks’s Reklaw gives excellent deliverance in its themes of right and wrong — modeled after our modern-day criminal justice system –, love and hate, and other dualities. Through literal and figurative masks, characters can either keep their inner selves contained or manifest them for the world to see. The challenge here is who can outperform each other, and of course, the actors do this so well. With some music, cinematography, and mesmerizing set pieces — such as the prison scenes –, this short film is way worth the watch. The story is a perfect blend of crime, drama, mystery, thriller, and comedy; or what Banks refers to as “cross-genre.” Indeed, he has a masterpiece in the works here.
You can catch Polaris Banks and Reklaw at the South by Southwest film festival next week! Additionally, to learn more about how this film came about, stay tuned for my 55+ minute interview with the filmmaker himself!
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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
