Author: KickingK
Date: Sunday April 05th, 2026
The purpose of a system is what it does
The most remarkable thing this film has to say about it's chosen subject of homelessness, is absolutely nothing. It goes out of it's way to not make a point. There's no moralising, no melodrama, no finger pointing and no blaming.
There's not even any antagonists. Literally everyone that Mike meets throughout the film tries to help him in one way or another. It's nobody's fault when Mike fails and fails again.
Mike is an uneducated young man who's not smart enough to compensate for his lack of schooling. He's living rough and trying to scrape by in any way he can. He's carefully played by Frank Dillane who avoids any obvious errors in his performance and portrays his character as a whole person. Mike may not be smart, but he is engaged with his life and the world around him.
But how can he succeed when every piece of help offered, whether by the state, by businesses or friends is transitory or transactional? And dependent on him having something to offer and never making a mistake?
The answer of course is that he can't. By showing restraint in it's story telling, the only thing the film leaves you with is a void. A void where the housing should be, where support should be, where care should be.
Mike fills that void with drink, drugs and chaos. I filled it with anger at a system that spends more money on police and prisons and reparations and rehab than it ever would on just giving Mike enough money to feed and house himself. Anger at a system that's designed to create homeless, broken people.
