Trial of Elkford (2021)
| Trial of Elkford | |
|---|---|
 Official release poster | |
| Directed by | Quentin Cooper |
| Written by | Aaron Cristol |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Chip Michaels |
| Edited by | Ashton Chapman |
| Music by | Nathaniel Barton |
Production companies | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 142 minutes |
| Country | Zamastan |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Z$35 million |
| Box office | Z$515,709,220 |
Trial of Elkford is a 2021 Zamastanian historical legal drama film directed by Quentin Cooper and written by Aaron Cristol. The film follows the Elkford Four, a group of anti–Vulkaria War protesters charged with conspiracy and intention of inciting riots at a 2002 campaign rally for President Camren Ellison. It features an ensemble cast including Adrien Dupuy, Lee Proverbs, Holli Wharton, Kate Anderbell, Andrew Fraser, Tom Crusdell, Alan Baumbert, and Benjamin Nest.
Cristol originally wrote the screenplay in 2013, with the intent of Travis Brondi directing the film with mostly unknown actors. After budget concerns forced Brondi to drop out as director, Cooper was announced as director in October 2019, and much of the cast joined the same month. Filming took place in the fall of 2020 in Elkford and around Tofino.
Plot
In August 2002, Ben Garrett, Jackson Madson, Jamie Elenbacher, John Bayfield, and Steven Barone make preparations to protest the conflict in Vulkaria at a campaign stop in Elkford for President Camren Ellison who is seeking reelection. Five months later, they are arrested and charged with trying to incite a riot. Martin Vickston, the Attorney General, appoints Alex Dalaquine and Caleb Roater as the prosecutors, while all the defendants except Barone are represented by Harold Whiteglass.
Judge Bate Madson shows significant prejudice for the prosecution, especially insisting that he and Jackson Madson are not related. Barone's attorney, Nate Garrity, cannot attend due to illness, leading Judge Madson to insist that Whiteglass represent him. This insistence is rejected by both Whiteglass and Barone. Barone receives support from Theodore Charlett which Judge Madson assumes is legal help. Jackson Madson openly antagonizes the court. Judge Madson removes a juror who he suspects sympathizes with the defendants due to reported threats from anti-war radicals and charges the defendants and their attorneys with multiple counts of contempt of court. Tension builds between the defendants.
Numerous undercover police officers and ZIS agents testify. At the time of the campaign rally, Garrett noticed two police officers tailing Elenbacher and attempted to let the air out of their tire, but was caught and later arrested. Jackson and others led a protest to the police station where Garrett was detained but turned around upon seeing the police blockade outside. When trying to return to the park, police had taken control of the hill with orders to disperse the crowd leading to a riot between police and protesters.
Days later, the defendants learn that Charlett was killed in a car crash. In retaliation for Barone continuing to speak up for his constitutional rights, Judge Madson has him taken to another room, beaten, and returned chained. This causes the defense and the prosecution to object, and Judge Madson declares Barone's case a mistrial. The defense puts Duncan Vernon, Attorney General during the riots, on the stand. Judge Madson refuses to let him testify in front of the jury as he had declined to initiate prosecutions after the riots because of evidence that the Elkford Police Department instigated them. Bayfield punches a bailiff, resulting in his arrest.
Whiteglass presents a tape implicating Garrett to the defendants and preps Garrett for cross-examination. On the night of the riot, Bayfield tried to pacify officers trying to arrest someone climbing a flagpole. After the police clubbed Bayfield's head, an enraged Garrett exclaimed, "If blood is going to spill, then let it spill all over the roads of Elkford!". The defendants were cornered by police and beaten. Jackson Madson deduces that Ben Garrett had misspoken, claiming the statement would have started with, "If our blood is going to spill... ." Realizing that mistake would be exploitable on the stand, Garrett asks Jackson to testify. Jackson agrees.
At the end of the trial, Garrett is given a chance to make a case for a lenient sentence. However, over Judge Madson's objections, Garrett uses his closing remarks to name all 2,988 soldiers who were killed in the Vulkaria War since the trial began. This act prompts many in the court to stand and cheer, including Dalaquine. The movie ends with a detication to the 3,246 killed and 12,902 wounded Zamastanian soldiers and a statement from President Ellison; "The consequence of war isn't solely the death and destruction. It's the breaking of men, the tearing of souls, and the departure of morality."