Not your typical Fourth of July celebration! This independent film conveys a great message to our society about society norms, racial stereotypes,and personal reassurance.

The film “FOUR” which was directed by Joshua Sanchez and produced By Christine Giorgio, presented us with four different situations that regularly you wouldn’t think were as brutal to the mind as they are displayed to be. Some of us either encounter these norms or are subjected to these situations through other people. There are four main characters of the film who all have some type of internal conflict that secretly tears them apart from within.There are also two characters on the outskirts of the main characters. There is a lot to stomach in this somewhat racy yet very informative film. Every situation that the characters encounter are carefully broken down only to connect in the end.

Here’s a brief synopsis of each main character:

Joe (played by Wendell Pierce), is the root of the whole film. He is a father, a  husband,a very busy “business man” who was always traveling and also a destruction to his own life and the life of others around him because he can not come out and be who he really is which is a gay man. Instead of him swallowing his pride and coming out of the closet he had an affair with a minor who was also as unsure of  himself and was hiding his sexuality from his family. Encouraging the minor to come out and be who he really is because he (Joe) couldn’t do that because he would disgrace his daughter and his wife, two of the most important people in his life.

June (played by Emory Cohen), the typical socially awkward young caucasian male that may have been perceived as weird or not socially balanced was indeed that. June struggled with the same exact thing that Joe could not fathom. June was so insecure about himself that he had to meet someone online just to feel loved for who he really is.He went through over hills of emotions while on his night on the town with Joe. June found himself between a rock and a hard place when his flash back  memory appeared in a present situation. June also struggled with the cliche thought that any young man or young woman experiences and that’s the “I’m Ugly ” phase. It took Joe’s personal testimony and constant pushing to encourage June to be himself and escape the prison in his mind.

Abigayle or Abby (played by Aja Naomi King) As the daughter of frequently absent Joe, she  was going through many trials that were exhibited in her behavior.She was in to boys of course but it seemed as if she craved the attention from them because of the absence of her father. Her mother could also be considered as absent because she was ill and practically didn’t have control over Abby and what she was doing with her personal life. Although Abby may seem young and naive. She then becomes aware of her father’s double life but bottles it in and causes her to push away someone who may have had interest in her “chocolate” self.

Dexter ( played by E.J. Bonilla) The interest of Abby, who wasn’t your typical prince charming.Dexter is a “mixed breed” who smoked and got high within the walls of his home which he shared with his parents. Dexter can’t let of his past life of basketball and secretly wishes he could relive those days of being a basketball star and is in-denial that those days are pretty much over for him. He obviously could join the club of internal conflicts , when it comes to race he wishes to be another race other than his own. Falling victim to stereotypes. He is also in  a constant battle with the emotions of Abby as she has her own baggage for this trip on the emotional roller coaster.

This film does a great job of depicting the different scenarios and tying them all together to one person. The fact that there was no fairytale ending to the film gave the film more of a realistic feel. It was a brilliant idea and technique that more films should take heed to when dealing with more than one conflicts in a story line. Seeing this made me think about my own life and other people, how we have so many in depth secrets that put us to shame and make us unbecoming. Not only that but, it makes you think about what is normal in society now that was never welcomed such as being gay and, stereotyping. I liked that the title of the film also was the motif. If you notice the film took place on the Fourth of July and that day there were situations involving four core characters.I think that the other two characters who didn’t appear as much in the film (Todd and Joe’s wife) could also be symbolism of both June and Joe’s past and how they can’t escape it and how it will always be in clear memory.

This film definitely showed Wendell Pierce in a different light. I am pretty sure that anyone who has already seen the film was in awe. I feel like it was a very daring but, brave role and that he played it accordingly. It was very evident that Wendell did his homework for this role because it was heartfelt. I did manage to cover my eyes a few times like a preschool kid but, had to get it together and once I did it was worth it. As a viewer of  the film I appreciate that Wendell went out of his comfort zone for the screen;for any man that is straight ,playing a gay role doesn’t just become something that they want to do. Every actor in the film did a good job in persuading the viewer that these situations are indeed a reality. The fact that the end of the film was like a cliff hanger always does it for avid viewers, leaves them wanting to see what happens next which is what happened with me.

I give this film a definite five stars for relating so well to modern day individuals, leaving us with a few things to think about in our own lives. Are we sworn to secrecy with ourselves? Do we stereotype people without knowing them? Do we find comfort in other people just to be sure of ourselves? There is a lot that a person can get from this film and I believe that was the motive. This film also gets five stars from me for the actors executing their roles the way they did, making the viewers feel like they were living through the characters. I recommend this film to anyone, from any generation because these are real life situations that people struggle with on a day by day basis. This film succeeded in absorbing you in to the film and making you become each actor. I say good job to the whole film crew!