The Inspection (2022 | USA | 95 minutes | Elegance Bratton)
Elegance Bratton made his name as a filmmaker whose work in documentaries, short films, and television has focused on exploring the lives of vulnerable Black queer and trans young people in New York. With his feature film debut, he tells a lightly fictionalized version of how he righted his own troubled youth. Kicked out of his home at age sixteen by a staunchly homophobic mother, Bratton survived homelessness for nearly a decade until his decision to enlist in the Marines helped him to find new purpose in his life. It’s a deeply personal story, but lyrically rendered with clear eyes, it’s universally accessible.
Much credit goes to casting Jeremy Pope in the lead role of Bratton stand-in Ellis French. Emmy- and Tony-nominated, with big expressive eyes, he instantly creates a three dimensional character without saying too much. When we meet him, he’s a scruffy bearded twentysomething, in an oversized hoodie, hopping subway turnstiles and making eyes at guys on the train. His ginger interactions with his prison guard mom (a hardened performance from Gabrielle Union playing the thankless role of a hard-core homophobe) who wants nothing to do with him instantly convey the effect of many lonely years of rejection and a life between shelters. With his vulnerability and determination, we’re immediately on his side when it comes time to shave the beard, get clean cut, leave New York City and his few possessions behind, and join a bus full of recruits to an intense stretch of basic training in the south.
The film stunned me into recognition about the passage of time. Set in the early-2000s, in the thick of the so-called War On Terror, his decision to enlist carries substantial baggage because the military was still in the midst of a seventeen-year long “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” compromise that allowed gay people to serve as long as they kept quiet about their sexuality. When we see Pope deepening his voice, butching it up, and barking responses to his drill sergeant about never having been a homosexual it’s a jarring reminder to the stifling policies that ended just over a decade ago.
The rigors of boot camp are conveyed with a sense of rhythmic order, days passing through physical exertion and being shaped into soldiers. There’s little in the way of burgeoning friendships or camaraderie, just hard work and repression amid casual racism, homophobia, and anti-islamic sentiment. These are men reshaping themselves and having a big personality isn’t part of the program. Animal Collective provide the soundtrack, and drill instructors Laws and Rosales (Bokeem Woodbine & Raúl Castillo) set the tone. Woodbine brings his legendary talents to the role of a hardened old-timer, screaming orders, and intent on turning young men into monsters. Although still firm, Castillo’s quieter instructor has a softer touch, lower on the totem pole and more in tune with the emotional needs of his cadets.
Working with cinematographer Lachlan Milne and taking inspiration from Philip-Lorca diCorcia, William Eggleston, and Gordon Parks, Bratton keeps us as close observers of French and admirers of the sprawling southern landscape. Reality is observed at a cool-toned distance, but the look shifts to warm saturation when his thoughts wander. Our first bracing encounter with this paradigm comes in a communal shower, when a steamy fleeting fantasy inadvertently outs him. The DADT policy must not have said anything about keeping your eyes to yourself; so a soapy erection outs an aroused Cadet French and issues in a world of hurt.
The trials and tribulations of training thus play out with added layers of exclusion and harassment. Pope embodies the stalwart courage and steely willpower of someone for whom quitting truly isn’t a viable option. There’s an element of knowing that Bratton goes on to a successful career that grants a halo of safety to the film, but even without the biographical context it’s still a surprisingly fun watch. Service is his last chance, and as he perseveres the lonesome weeks and exclusion, we root for his success against the cruelty of the system and celebrate small wins of friendship, connection, and demonstrations of excellence.
Despite the adversity and harsh treatment, Bratton remains pro-troops if not entirely pro-military. So for all of the challenges, the film never drags and the filmmaking propels us along with French toward his goal, the titular inspection that marks the successful completion of training. Although I left with some ambivalence about the conclusion and his reunion with his mother, Bratton’s depiction of this call to service has a spin unlike other military themed movies that I’ve ever seen. It’s a worthy entry into the genre and an eye-opening reminder of very recent history in the form of a compelling personal narrative. Even better for knowing that it launched an already successful career for a promising filmmaker with a compelling voice.
The Inspection arrives in local theaters on December 2
Lead image credit: Patti Perret, courtesy A24