‘Chained’ thriller drops on VOD December 28: Watch the trailer
Freestyle Digital Media acquired the rights to the film written and directed by Titus Heckel
A young Black boy in peril risks it all to escape an abusive home life by befriending and then abusing a man who is also in trouble. That’s the premise of Chained, a movie coming to video-on-demand on Tuesday, Dec. 28.
Brought to you by Freestyle Digital Media (which, along with theGrio, is owned by Byron Allen‘s Allen Media Group), the film stars the upcoming talent Marlon Kazadi as Taylor.
The official synopsis reads:
“CHAINED tells the story of an abused boy who finds a criminal chained inside a deserted factory, but the boy begins abusing his captive in order to find out where the man has hidden stolen money so that he can escape his abusive homelife. Taylor, a 13-year-old abused and bullied boy, discovers and befriends Jim, a criminal chained inside an abandoned warehouse.”
“At first, Taylor, an aspiring organic gardener, takes care of Jim, but after a violent betrayal, Taylor begins abusing his captive in order to find out where Jim has hidden stolen money,” the synopsis continues. “Taylor has big dreams of using the money to buy an organic farm with his friend, Nora, thus escaping his abusive homelife. Meanwhile, the enraged and violent victims of Jim’s crime are closing in and Taylor is in way over his head. They suspect Taylor’s father, Pete, an often-shady cop, knows where Jim is. Now, not only has Taylor put his own life in peril, but those of Jim, his father, and his beloved Nora.”
Written and directed by Titus Heckel, Chained tells the story of how young Black males, many of who are already facing various struggles in their own environments, are sometimes even dealing with challenges from those who are supposed to love and protect them.
“Every day boys are taught that men must be stronger than their feelings, that their worth is bound up with what they provide or achieve and that to lead one must dominate rather than cooperate. All of us are responsible for this,” Heckel said in a statement. “Chained is as much a story about what a boy in our culture goes through to become a man as it is an exploration of my own masculinity.”
It features up-and-coming young actor Kazadi, who won the Best Actor award at the New York International Film Awards earlier this year in his first lead role. You may already have seen him in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Riverdale, and Child’s Play but Chained is his breakout performance.
Actor Adrian Holmes, who plays Taylor’s father, Pete, turns in his own complex characterization. Though Pete is an abusive parent, the role allows Holmes to show his layers in a way that allows for his humanity.
Holmes, who has over 100 movie and TV credits, is one of those actors whose face you know even if you don’t immediately know his name. That should change now that he was cast as Uncle Phil in the upcoming Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot, Bel-Air, set for 2022 on Peacock.
Chained is available to own or rent on streaming media platforms on Tuesday, Dec. 28.
Watch the Chained trailer below:
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