What Happens to Joe and Jerry?

Nick Offerman is the star of the new independent crime thriller, Sovereign, which also co-stars Jacob Tremblay as his son, Joe. In the film, Offerman plays an extremely anti-government single father named Jerry who indoctrinates Joe into believing his extremist ideology. When I say Jerry is extremely anti-government, I mean he is completely against all forms of government interaction. He is anti-government to the point of letting his home run the risk of foreclosure, because his ideology tells him he doesn’t have to acknowledge the bank’s legal notices; therefore, he doesn’t have to pay them back.

Sovereign depicts the very complex nature of American society and the financial desperation that many face. The film takes a rather apolitical stance and focuses on why Jerry believes what he believes, rather than whether the audience should agree with his teachings. The film is inspired by true events in 2010, when a father-son duo who were part of the Sovereign Citizen movement were involved in a police shooting. It is an important film but a rather sad one, and the ending may leave some viewers questioning why things happened the way they did.

What Are Jerry and Joe’s Lives Like in ‘Sovereign’?

Briarcliff Entertainment

Jerry’s anti-government ideologies have led him to quit his roofing job and instead go on the road to spread the teachings of the Sovereign Citizens movement at sparsely attended seminars he hosts. Without a traditional job, this is how Jerry makes money for himself and his son, which means Joe is often left home alone with just his dog. Joe is homeschooled by his father, so he doesn’t interact with kids his own age and frankly doesn’t seem to leave the house often. With Jerry on the road, Joe is left to deal with bank officials consistently coming by the house with legal notices informing them of their imminent foreclosure.

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Part of Jerry’s ideology is that if he doesn’t physically “receive” the legal notices from the bank, then they have no right to take the house from him, regardless of his mortgage payment status. So when Joe tries to hand the paperwork to his father and discuss it with him, Jerry dismisses it. He then invites Joe to join him on his next road trip, which Joe is elated about. Jerry has Joe fitted for a white suit that matches his own and lets Joe help him host his seminars. Joe is thrilled to be helping his dad, but things happen on this trip that make Joe start to question what his dad does and why he does it.

What Makes Joe Begin To Question His Dad?

Joe is left alone in the hotel room one night, so Jerry can join a fellow sovereign citizen, his suggested romantic partner Leslie-Anne, at the casinos, where he gambles the money he makes from teaching seminars. This doesn’t sit right with Joe because he knows they have the money to pay the bank back and avoid foreclosure. When their seminars are done, and it’s time for them to head home, Jerry is pulled over and asked for his license and registration. Of course, Jerry doesn’t drive with either of those legal documents because he doesn’t want any contracts with the government. Instead, he has his own “travel documents” that he believes should suffice as a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen, resulting in him getting arrested and Joe being sent to a temporary foster facility.

Before being placed in the foster facility, a local Sheriff named John (Dennis Quaid) tries to explain that Jerry’s ideology essentially has no basis in reality. As a sheriff, John is the polar opposite of Jerry. He takes upholding the law personally and plays by the government’s rules. It’s a stark contrast from his father that leaves Joe even more unsure than he was before. While under the foster facility’s care, Joe gets to attend regular school for the first time and hang out with other teenagers. It has such a profound impact on him that he tries to figure out a way to convince his dad to let him take a placement test so he can enroll in a public high school.

What Happens at the End?

Dennis Quaid Sovereign — Briarcliff Entertainment

The bank does indeed foreclose on their home and forces the father-son duo to vacate the premises with their dog. Jerry decides they’re going to Florida to stay with Leslie-Anne. Before they were forced out of their home, Joe ended up scheduling the placement test that would allow him to enroll in a public high school. Joe is visibly angry with his father for refusing to save their home and forcing them to move when Jerry knew how much Joe wanted to attend regular school.

Shortly after, an officer pulls them over on the side of a highway entry ramp. The officer routinely asks for Jerry’s license and registration, which he, of course, does not have. The officer called for backup, and when the second officer arrived, the two attempted to frisk Jerry. When Jerry resisted, the three men got into an altercation that resulted in Jerry being pinned to the ground.

Feeling helpless and upset despite his father’s actions, Joe desperately tries to find a way to help his father out of the situation. He spots the assault rifle Jerry had loaded before the officer pulled them over, remembering his father’s claim that they must conquer before it’s too late. He shoots down both officers before Jerry worriedly rushes him back into the minivan. They run into a convenience store to buy new clothes and wash off as Joe breaks down over what he did, pleading with his father to just go back home so they could be with his mother. Joe was so distraught that he seemed to temporarily forget that his mother had passed years ago.

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Sheriff John arrived at the crime scene where Jerry and Joe had fled, only to discover that his son, Adam, was one of the officers Joe had shot and killed. Adam had recently become a father and a cop, and although John was tough on Adam, he was proud of his son. John has the rest of the police department track Jerry and Joe down to the parking lot of the convenience store they stopped at, and almost immediately, a shootout occurs. Joe, scared and upset, takes cover with their dog in the back of the car while Jerry engages in the shootout against John and his officers. Ultimately, John kills Jerry, and as we see Joe’s lifeless hand dangling out of the car, we realize he was unfortunately killed as well.

A funeral is put together for Adam, while nothing is done for Jerry and Joe. On the night of the funeral, John hears Adam’s newborn son crying in his crib. John had always advised Adam not to pick up a crying baby because they “need to learn,” but John held Adam’s son close to him that night, suggesting that John felt regret for not showing more affection towards his own son. Both Jerry and John were firm believers in their ideologies and in their parenting styles, no matter how toxic either of them could be. In the end, neither father was able to protect their son.