Review of Sollers Point, directed by Matthew Porterfield

There are some movies you end up watching merely because you’re bored, and every Thursday night after work I find myself scrolling through my streaming platforms for anything to watch. Literally anything after a certain point because I end up having choice paralysis when I end up going on those streaming platforms.

I was on Mubi this time because I wanted something I could think about later when I saw Sollers Point as one of the options in a carousel. At first I stopped and stared at it because I knew exactly what it was referring to, but I wasn’t sure if this is a Baltimore film.

I am from Baltimore County myself, so when I read the synopsis and realized that yes, this was about Baltimore and a guy living within it, I decided to sit down and watch it. It’s rare that we get representation on the larger fabric of entertainment and media because of how Baltimore is depicted as a shithole in the news, but this is a very real city that just has its problems.

What do you do when nothing about us is depicted without some kind of slant? That’s the mindset I came into this movie with, and thought that it was pretty accurate representation.

Onwards with the review!

Keith, recently released from prison, lives with his dad and struggles to adapt back into the real world.

Our protagonist in Sollers Point is Keith, who, to be honest, isn’t real charming throughout the film. He has an attitude problem and has a tendency to treat the people around him not the greatest, and I thought he was such an unlikeable character throughout.

He has the chance to change his life around for the better and is in home detention for many months, but because he is on parole, this ends up denying him some opportunities later on in the film.

At home he lives with his father, and their relationship isn’t the greatest either. There’s a scene towards the end of the film where they get into a massive argument in front of people, which shows how they might not get better after all of this is dead and done.

The camera then essentially follows Keith as he tries to find work and wanders the streets of the outskirts of Baltimore in search of a greater purpose.

A film like this is one that captures the spirit of not only Keith, but an entire community that’s on the decline. I am very familiar with Baltimore and its issues, and it’s not just people like Keith who end up in these kinds of situations.

There are a ton of young people who wander the streets in search of a better life and hand than the one they have been served so far, which just shows how terrible the state of the city is.

And that’s what we get in Sollers Point. Lots of decline and people struggling to exist as the world is right now. Keith is only the vehicle a contained story moves through, and, as unlikeable as he is, he’s got a point to exist in this movie (although not in the world of the movie).

He has to face his demons when he confronts the people he used to know and the life he once had, as well as the reasons as to why he ended up in jail in the first place.

One could say the plot in this one is rather aimless, but I think it’s intentional to mirror the life of Keith on screen. There’s probably not going to be a happy ending for a lot of people like Keith and I think this movie is frank in showing how realistic the situation is.

It’s not amped up for dramatic effect and the dialogue itself is fairly simple, as well as the conflict. People aren’t going to be 100% on board with that, but I was fine with it to be honest.

Overall Thoughts

Film has the remarkable power to document reality as it is, and while this is not a documentary, I think it comes close in showing how life in Baltimore is like. Sure it’s not a summer blockbuster, but theres’s inherent value to movies like these at the end of the day when it comes to representation and depictions of ways of life that often aren’t discussed in the mainstream.

I’m glad I randomly stumbled upon this movie even if it was a bit challenging to get through in some moments.

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