Jack is a scrappy fifteen-year-old, growing up in a rural town and looking down the barrel of another bout of summer school. Burdened with an oblivious mother, an absent father, and a violent bully, Jack has learned to do what it takes to get by. After his aunt falls ill and a runty younger cousin comes to stay with him, the tough teen is set on a course to discover the importance of friendship, family, and looking for happiness even in the most desolate of circumstances. Unfolding over the course of a single summer weekend, King Jack is a tough and tender coming-of-age story from first-timer Felix Thompson.

With a keen sense of the perceived heightened stakes that seem to typify all of teen existence, and a beautiful sense of a unique place and moment in time, Thompson brings to life one boy’s rough-and-tumble daily life as he grasps for happiness in a way that is both specific and widely resonant.

—Cara Cusumano

Directed by

Felix Thompson