Bucksville (2011)

Short synopsis: In the shadow of a wealthy militia kingpin (Tom Berenger), a young man (Thomas Stroppel) struggles to leave a small town militia started by his father. A thinking person's vigilante film, Bucksville takes on topics of ethics, corruption and family conflict. Plot summary: Abandoned by his mother at a young age, 25-year old Presley Alan French (Thomas Stroppel) has grown up under the watchful eye of his father, the chief of a small town, secret militia called The Lodge. Along with his cousins, Presley is committed for life to participate in the groupÂ’s self-appointed mission of justice and capital punishment. Ignited by a deep sense of civic duty, The Lodge was initiated many years ago by PresleyÂ’s father, uncle and other town leaders, when a local girl was murdered and the killer released unpunished. The group captured the man and executed him deep in the woods. Over the years, other executions have been carried out in the name of community service. His father's sudden fatal heart attack leads Presley to examine his ever-increasing trepidations about the groupÂ’s ideology. This is compounded by the discovery that his uncle, now the new chief, is forming ties with Militia for America Now, an umbrella group with an extremist Right Wing agenda funded by a charismatic multi-millionaire (Tom Berenger). Presley must decide whether to break all bonds to family or be immersed in killings that are now politically motivated. Eerie and beautiful, Bucksville is a genre-bending drama/thriller whose timely topics of ethics and the militia movement ring with universal relevance. It is also a film about love, loyalty, and the loss of innocence.