Given the country’s overcrowded prisons, the U.S. government begins to allow 12-hour periods of time in which all illegal activity is legal. During one of these free-for-alls, a family must protect themselves from a home invasion.

I had temporarily moved back to my hometown when the confluence of a global pandemic, prevalent social justice issues, and heated US presidential election brought out the worst in the community. I suddenly found myself feeling like a stranger in the same neighborhoods I rode my bike through as a kid. 

In a lot of ways, “Straw Men” is about out-growing people and places that stay stagnant, only to find that your roots are still ensnared.

Writer/ Director, Neil Willoughby