KIN

US, 2018, 104 minutes, Colour.
Myles Truitt, Jack Raynor, Zoe Kravitz, James Franco, Dennis Quaid.
Directed by Jonathan and Jesse Baker.

With a title like Kin, the main expectations might be a story of family and bonding. And, in some ways, it is.

There are quite some intriguing elements in the screenplay. However, there are three main strands of the narrative, eventually coming together though a bit disparate at times along the way. Since there are touches of science-fiction introduced early, the film is a blend of gritty realism and fantasy speculation. Credibility and plausibility are not a major feature.

At the centre of the film is a young African-American? boy, Elijah, Eli, played quite effectively by Myles Truitt. He is bullied at school because of his mother. Suddenly Dennis Quaid appears as his stepfather, a stern man of principle, who warms Eli to be wary of his step-brother, Jimmy (Jack Raynor) who is being released from six years in prison.

Some difficulties at the dinner table, Jimmy going off to see a group of thugs, led by James Franco being sleazily brutal, about paying off debt. Then, we are off on a cross-country car trip, Jimmy and Eli. There is a series of adventures, especially when Jimmy takes his young brother to a disreputable bar, drinks, gets into a fight with the owner, and making friends with one of the dancers at the bar, Milly, Zoe Kravitz.

It is here that the science-fiction opens up, an ultra-powerful weapon that Eli has found in a warehouse where he used to collect scrap metal and has taken this strange box with him, discovering its lethal power.

There is an episode at a gambling den at the back of a farm. There is an episode at the casinos in Las Vegas. Jimmy wants to confess his guilt about what has happened to Eli but is interrupted leading to a drama between the two brothers, an arrest in Nevada, being interned in the police precinct with the thugs attacking the station, a rather brutal shootout, the FBI also arriving on the scene and, some mysterious bike riders (including Michael B. Jordan who produced the film) and an explanation of the science-fiction elements.

This is one of those you might like it, you might not, depending how intrigued you are with the various strands, especially the science-fiction, and how it all comes together.

1. The title? The brothers? Father and sons? The bonds?

2. The American city, home, school, the factory? On the road, the American countryside? Las Vegas, the casino? The police precinct in prison? The musical score?

3. The three different plot strands, the interconnections? How credible?

4. The focus on Eli, at the core of the film, his age, African- American, at school, his being bullied, the fights about his mother? At school, his father and his strictness? His being adopted? The father's principles?

5. Jimmy, his brother, in prison after six years, the return, the meal, the clash with his father, wanting a job? The warning about the influence on his life?

6. The situation, the scrap metal, Eli finding the weapon, the dead creatures and their armour, aliens?

7. Taking the weapon, carrying it? Eventually using it, the shock of the effect, in the bar, the destruction, at the farm with the gamblers, in the police precinct? The final explanations about the aliens, the death seekers, the weapons, and Eli being an alien, hiding on earth? The two aliens on the bike, the chase, the tracking devices, rescuing

8. The aliens, the explanations, Eli and his powers? His future on earth?

9. The thugs, James Franco as the repellent thug, Taylor Balik, supporting Jimmy, wanting the money? The brutality, the thugs and the bashing, the pursuit?

10. Going to the bar, the encounter with Milly, playing, the money, the clashes, the boss and his dominance, Eli firing the weapon, on the run?

11. Milly, her story, bonding with Eli? With Jimmy? Going back to get the money, the confrontation at the farm, the gamblers, the weapon? Taking off, the explanations, the pursuit?

12. Las Vegas, the luxury room, the gambling, the news on the television, Jimmy wanting to tell Eli the truth, the escape?

13. The police, the television story, Jimmy and being taken, in the police precinct? Jimmy's confession? The thugs and their attack, the weapons and the massacre, the arrival of the FBI and the agent?

14. The aliens, the explanation of the mystery? Taylor Balik, his death?

15. Jimmy going to prison, Milly a and Eli? His future?