Welcome to the future!

It’s a rather low-rent place, full of empty warehouses, vacant lots, and deserted streets.  With the exception of the Sovereign Leader (David Krist), everyone seems to live in a bland apartment.  It’s a world where people have neither personalities nor names.  Instead, people are identified by their identification numbers.  Few people can really remember what the world was like before the Sovereign Leader came to power but almost everyone seems to believe that it was not a good place to live.  The Sovereign Leader says so and why would he lie?  The people are united by one belief when it comes to their Leader.  “If he is for us, who can be against us?”

There are a few people who refuse to accept the words of the Sovereign Leader.  They hide in the wilderness and in the city and they read forbidden books.  The Leader has his own fanatical, paramilitary force who spend their time tracking down and executing these so-called “Defiants.”  This group of executioners is known as the Peace Team because, after all, that’s what they’re doing, right?  They’re making sure that no one disturbs the peace.

This is the world of the 2019 film, Defiant.

Defiant tells the story of A51-317 (Luke Krist), who begins the film as one of the most fanatical members of the Sovereign Leader’s Peace Team.  Perhaps the reason why A51-317 is so quick to announce his loyalty to the Sovereign Leader is because he is suffering from his own doubts.  He has dreams and occasional flashbacks to a time before the Sovereign Leader comes to power and much of what he sees stands in contrast to what he’s been told about the old world.  A51-317 wonders why he can’t remember much about his past.  He wonders why so many people are willing to be executed rather than follow the Sovereign Leader.  He wonders who he was before he just became a number.

And soon, he’s wondering why he’s been framed for the attempted murder of the Sovereign Leader.  After the Leader is shot in the head, he’s believed to be dead for three days.  Then, suddenly, the Leader reveals that he’s not only alive but he also announces himself to be the Supreme Leader.  He makes it clear that all Defiants must now be executed.  A51-317 find himself on the run as he becomes one of the people who he used to hunt.

It’s a familiar story, one that’s been featured in a countless number of faith-based “final days” movies.  That said, Defiant is a well-made and surprisingly well-acted film, one that does a good job of creating a believable atmosphere of fear and paranoia.  The Sovereign Leader has much in common with the dictators and megalomaniacs of today and the scenes in which the Peace Team track down the Defiants and accuse them of being insobordinate for not blindly supporting the policies of the Leader feel even more relevant today than they did in 2019.  Whether one buys into the film’s faith-based message or not, Defiant is a film that feels undeniably relevant to today’s world.