Are You Aware? Two Distant Strangers

Two Distant Strangers,  

Travon Free & Martin Desmond Roe,  

Joey Bada$$, Zaria Simon, and Andrew Howard 

Short Film – 32 minutes 

6.9/10 IMDb / 93% Rotten Tomatoes 

Netflix Apr 1, 2021 

Something we see and witness in our world every day. Finally, we have a great example in perspective of an African American man living in New York. It finally gives us a hint and answers questions of “does this really go on?” If you want to become more aware of racial inequality and police brutality, is this short film worth watching?  

Two Distant Strangers is a Drama/Social Issue Drama short film directed by Travon Free and Martin Desmond Bane. The lead actor being Joey Bada$$ as Carter James. Joey Bada$$ is an American rapper and song producer. He is of great use in this film as it targets and breaks down racism in America, emphasizing police brutality. This is a modern genre that is depicting real social issues.  

This short film is worth watching as it gives you a real perspective of a black man living in modern times. This film allows the viewer to sympathize with racial inequality that is alive and well in our country and occurring daily. After the death of George Floyd and countless other deaths by police violence, this film came out at a time of high relevance. 

Joey Bada$$ plays the main character as Carter James, a young graphic designer living in New York City. Joey does not have a wide variety of films from his past, but it’s impossible to tell with his performance in this watch. There are many emotional scenes in this film, all of which you can see Joey’s emotions truly showing. This is more than a paycheck or acting startup for him. This is real life. People of his skin color, family members, friends, are dying at the expense of aggressive police. The emotion wasn’t from the character of Carter, it was from real life Joey. This film is influenced by real-life events. The impact depends on the viewer. If it can educate and flip the switch on some people’s thought processes, then bam, there’s been an impact. I am sure that is what this short film has accomplished. 

This film is listed under the Social Issue drama genre, and that is spot on. Movies that are relatable to this short film and genre are ‘The Hate U Give’ (2018), ‘Fruitvale Station’ (2013), and ‘Do The Right Thing’ (1989). All these are films that relate to violence on African Americans, involving police brutality. Films like these have been around for a while, but Two Distant Strangers is a modern take of the continued topic of police brutality. It released on Netflix on Apr 1, 2021. This is after the highly protested and severe summer in 2020 where innocent black people were killed, and protesting was rightfully high in most states. 

Two Distant Strangers does in fact use real-life scenarios. In the film, Carter wakes up and leaves the house he stayed the night at. Once he leaves, he is approached by a cop and questioned. After the questioning, the cop gets physical, and it leads to Carter being shot and killed. Then shortly after, Carter wakes up and reexperiences these, leaving the apartment and being killed by a police officer. This happens a total of 99 times throughout the film. Carter is just trying to get home to feed his dog. They even use a specific example in this film, when the police knock on the door, knock the door down, and then immediately fire and shoot at Carter, killing him on accident thinking it was a different apartment number. This resembles the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African American woman who was killed while sleeping after police officers broke into her apartment and recklessly shot 32 times. 

After trying different ideas of leaving the apartment and getting to his house to feed his dog, Carter talks to the police, and they get to know each other. He explains everything to the officer and that he is going to kill him, and they continue to talk. The officer gets to know Carter and offers him a ride home. He realizes he is not a bad kid. But that just isn’t enough. 

Performances that stood out in this film are Carter’s and Merk’s (police officer). The whole film is based upon their interactions and Merk does a good job resembling an angry and aggressive officer. The cinematography of this film is great, showing alleyways, New York traffic, and the regular pedestrians you’d see. The story stays consistent with Carter wanting to get home specifically to feed his dog. The soundtrack was just fine, it used appropriate beats and sounds to really bring the emotions out of the viewer. The soundtrack was as smooth as its transitions.  

Overall, Two Distant Strangers was a profound watch and really digs deep to allow the viewer to understand the story. Police brutality is what this film is all about and it’s showing that innocent black Americans are getting treated unfairly, harmed, and killed by authorities that are supposed to protect us. Giving this a watch will help you get a better feeling of what it’s like being black in America and the unacceptable situations you’re put into daily. I enjoyed this movie as it is eye-opening and moves the viewer to take a stance against racism and police brutality.