The Independent

The Independent follows Elisha “Eli” James (Jodie Turner-Smith), a headstrong reporter working for the Washington Chronicle trying to make a name for herself despite a previous career embarrassment (and the mistreatment of an apathetic boss). Her efforts catch the eye of senior reporter Nick Booker (Brian Cox), who encourages her to follow a lead into a potential embezzlement case. Eli also breaks the story of Yale graduate, Olympic gold medalist and author Nate Sterling (John Cena) running in the upcoming general election. The titular independent, Sterling promises to bring real change to America, separate from the two-party system, but Eli soon discovers there may be more to him than meets the eye.

As can be expected from the premise, The Independent’s script tackles several key talking points about the American political system and the institution of journalism, including the two-party system, the importance of accurate and impartial reporting and the prevalence of corruption in politics.

However, one of the film’s biggest failings is that it doesn’t have much to say about these topics. It understands that the things it discusses are important, but feels content with simply stating the problems rather than exploring them. The story has no real conviction or bite, offering vague platitudes but unwilling to engage with the socio-political climate it covers, which leaves the writing feeling hollow and insubstantial.

Owing to its wishy-washy approach to its subject matter, the feature’s character drama is also fairly unengaging and lacks compelling conflict, despite the efforts of its talented actors. Turner-Smith is excellent as Eli, and Cena is also great as the squeaky-clean Nate, bringing his years of experience as a babyface to the role. However, the lack of conviction at the heart of the film means there aren’t many interesting places for these characters to go.

Without a central thesis, there aren’t any big themes to wrap drama around, so the character interactions largely feel like the script is throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. This leaves the piece feeling simultaneously overstuffed with subplots and lacking in satisfying payoff for these subplots.

Overall, The Independent is a pretty disappointing flick, with undercooked writing barely held up by the hard work of a talented cast. Critically, it’s a film about politics with nothing substantial to say about politics, wanting to stick it to The Man but having nothing to stick.

Umar Ali

The Independent is released on Sky on 24^th February 2023.

Watch the trailer for The Independent here: