Directed by Joshua Sanchez from a play by Christopher Shinn, this 2012 indie drama runs a fleet 75 minutes but manages to pack in quite a bit in a film that covers one Fourth of July holiday in a nondescript town. The focus is on four desperate, lonely characters who pursue risky couplings with people they've never met before. June is a teen struggling with his sexual identity who escapes his family's holiday celebration to hook up with Joe, a closeted middle-aged African-American, married with a daughter Abigayle. At the same time, she meets Dexter, a streetwise half-Latino still holding onto past basketball dreams. Both couples connect but not without a great deal of trepidation and some theatrical contrivances. The performances compensate. Aja Naomi King brings pensive intensity to Abigayle, while E. J. Bonilla adds dimension to Dexter's cocky bravado. Emory Cohen brings the requisite angst to June, and in a surprising brave turn, Wendell Pierce brings his own gravitas to a conflicted character encouraging a teen's sexual liberation while unwilling to expose his own closeted hypocrisy to his family.

The story takes place on the fourth of July and centers on the lives of four people. Four is also the number used to establish a foundation. We see people who are trapped by their lives on a day they celebrate freedom. Joe (Wendell Pierce) a chicken hawk, meets June (Emory Cohen) on line. June is a quiet confused young man who feels trapped by his homosexuality. Joe is a family man who can not come out either. His wife has a "disease" which we guess is HIV she got from Joe. Abigayle (sic) is Joe's daughter who cares for her mother while dad claims he is Boston. Young Dexter is mixed White and Hispanic. He convinces Abigayle to come out and see him. He played basketball as a youth and it appears his best days are behind him.

Even understanding the symbolism/metaphor the film sets up, I still didn't enjoy it. An art/ concept film based on a play.

F-bomb. sex (mm, mf) no nudity