Sovereign

Although it’s set 15 years ago, Sovereign conveys fresh urgency in a contemporary climate of pervasive sociopolitical and ideological division.

This true-crime drama provides a harrowing glimpse into extremism, anchored by a fully committed performance from Nick Offerman, portraying a man whose wacko fringe beliefs carry a chilling conviction and dangerous consequences.

Offerman plays Jerry, an unemployed Arkansas widower and anti-government nutjob who home-schools — and radicalizes — his teenage son, Joe (Jacob Tremblay), in the suburban home they share, which happens to be facing foreclosure.

Where the average person would become anxious about mounting bills, Jerry subscribes to the “sovereign citizen” movement, claiming that he doesn’t owe any money, that the bank-driven financial system is fraudulent, and that he can live on the property for free.

He’s also a fervent gun-rights advocate who regularly holds seminars to spread his gospel to gullible strangers. But when he’s arrested following a tense traffic stop, the local police chief (Dennis Quaid) sends Joe to a juvenile home, where the otherwise complicit youngster hints that he would rather live a normal life aside from his overbearing dad.

With the charisma and audacity of a cult leader, Jerry is a persuasive speaker able to disguise any ulterior motives. He seeks confrontations and conflict with the intent of making authority figures uncomfortable.

“I don’t wanna have to kill anybody,” he explains, “but if they keep messing with me, then I’m afraid that’s what it’s gonna come down to.”

As his rhetoric becomes more defiant, his circular logic and outlaw philosophy are more disconcerting because his attitude is so nonchalant. Yet as his façade crumbles around him, he veers steadily toward an inevitably violent outcome.

In its skillful attempt to avoid sensationalizing or passing judgment, the film also generates some intriguing father-son dynamics. Offerman (“Parks and Recreation”) sidesteps goofy quirks in favor of simmering rage.

In his most mature role to date, Tremblay (Home) becomes an emotional anchor for moviegoers even as his skepticism remains muted by his fear of paternal retaliation.

The exposition in the uneven screenplay by rookie director Christian Swegal is a bit clunky and didactic, and the parallel story structure in the second half doesn’t quite pay off.

Although it’s less successful in mining Jerry’s traumatic back story for context, Sovereign is tensely provocative and consistently unsettling.

Rated R, 100 minutes.