''Sword of Trust'' is a 2019 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Lynn Shelton Lynn Shelton (August 27, 1965 – May 16, 2020) was an American filmmaker, known for writing, directing, and producing such films as ''Humpday'' and ''Your Sister's Sister''. She was associated with the mumblecore genre. Early life Shelton was b ...

from a screenplay by Shelton and Mike O'Brien. The cast features

Marc Maron Marcus David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician. In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' and has appeared more than forty ...

, Jon Bass,

Michaela Watkins Michaela Suzanne Watkins (born December 14, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for starring on the Hulu series '' Casual'' and on the short-lived sitcoms '' The Unicorn'' and ''Trophy Wife'', as well as being a cast memb ...

, Tim Paul,

Whitmer Thomas Whitmer Alexander Thomas is an American comedian, actor and musician. He is best known for his voice role on FXX animated comedy ''Stone Quackers'', and his work with LA-based comedy troupe Power Violence. Thomas’s hour-long comedy special, ...

Toby Huss Tobias Huss (born December 9, 1966) is an American actor, known for portraying Artie in the Nickelodeon series ''The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' (1993–1996). He is also known for his voice-over work on the long-running animated series ''King of ...

Dan Bakkedahl Dan Bakkedahl (born November 18, 1969) is an American actor and improvisational comedian. He is best known for starring as Tim Hughes on the CBS sitcom ''Life in Pieces'', as Congressman Roger Furlong on the HBO series ''Veep'', and as Steve Nuge ...

and

Jillian Bell Jillian Leigh Bell (born April 25, 1984) is an American actress, comedian and screenwriter. She stars in the 2019 film ''Brittany Runs a Marathon'' and 2022's ''I'm Totally Fine''. She starred as Jillian Belk on ''Workaholics'', voiced the role o ...

. It is the final film directed by Shelton, who also portrays Deidre in the film, before she died in May 2020. The film had its world premiere at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

on March 8, 2019, and was released on July 12, 2019, by

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...

Plot

Mel owns and runs a

pawn shop A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, with the help of Nathaniel. However, Nathaniel isn't very helpful as he spends most of his time watching

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

conspiracy videos on his

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

. Mary and Cynthia go to Cynthia's deceased grandfather's house in order to sort out his estate. Deirdre, a drug addict and Mel's ex, shows up to the pawn shop and has a conversation with Nathaniel. She writes him a poem as Mel emerges from the back. She tells Mel that he owes her a dinner and tries to pawn a ring. Mel declines and she leaves. Back at the house Mary and Cynthia learn that Cynthia will not inherit her grandfather's house in contrast to their expectations due to

reverse mortgage A reverse mortgage is a mortgage loan, usually secured by a residential property, that enables the borrower to access the unencumbered value of the property. The loans are typically promoted to older homeowners and typically do not require monthl ...

he took out on the house. They are disappointed and learn that she has inherited an

antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

with a letter written by the grandfather explaining the sword's history. Cynthia remembers the sword from her childhood. While reading the letter, they discover the sword belonged to

General Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

from the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. It was surrendered to Cynthia's ancestor, a field marshal in a battle of the war. The letter also claims the Confederacy won the war. The two women show up to Mel's Pawn Shop to sell the sword. He offers them $400. They tell him it is too low an offer, given its documentation. They show him a drawing of

General McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...

surrendering to

General Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of North ...

. He doesn't believe them and Mary leaves him her number in case he changes his mind. Nathaniel finds a conspiracy video on YouTube of a man that believes the South won the war and claims he will pay up to $50,000 for Civil War artifacts. Mel and Nathaniel call the man to discuss business. The man asks for a picture of the sword. Mel calls Mary to invite the women back and offers them more money. Mary is suspicious of the new offer all of a sudden and gets Mel to admit that there is a buyer. They come to an agreement to split the profits and take a picture of the sword and send it to the interested party. Everyone meets up at the Pawn Shop the next morning, including Hog Jaws, the man sent to buy the sword. Hog Jaws informs them that the boss man will be interested and that they'll be in touch. Everyone except Mel leaves and two other men show up looking for the sword. They attempt to intimidate Mel and steal the sword that is not there. Nathaniel emerges from the back and Mel and Nathaniel's friend Jimmy comes in, forcing them to leave. They receive a text from Hog Jaws offering $40,000 for the sword. Mel accepts the offer and they receive another text telling them transport is on the way to take them to meet the boss. Hog Jaws and the women arrive at the pawn shop. The car Hog Jaws arrives in is too small to transport everyone so he leaves. He comes back with a truck. He drives them from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

to a farm in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. The two men who attempted to rob Mel earlier emerge and attempt to steal the sword again. Mel realizes he knew the two men when they were children and Mary pulls a gun on them. A man, Kingpan, emerges from the barn with Hog Jaws, threatens the two men, and kicks them off the property. Mel and Mary go inside the house in order to sell the sword to Kingpan, who realizes that the two of them don't really believe the South won the war. He purchases the sword from them anyway and admits he doesn't believe it either. Hog Jaws overhears the conversation from outside of the room they're in and comes in angrily with a gun drawn. Mary texts Cynthia who is outside with Nathaniel. She pulls out a gun and hits the man watching over the two of them in the head, knocking him out. She enters the room, points the gun to the back of Hog Jaws' head and takes his gun away. Kingpan's henchmen take Hog Jaws away. Cynthia decides she can't sell the sword because of the sentimental value and Mel, Nathaniel, Mary, and Cynthia drive back to Alabama. Mel pays for Deidre's car to be fixed and leaves her a bag of provisions.

Cast

as Mel * Jon Bass as Nathaniel *

as Mary *

as Cynthia *

as Hog Jaws *

as Kingpan *

as Deirdre * Whitmer Thomas as Jake * Timothy Paul as Zeke * Benjamin Keepers as Ben * Al Elliott as Jimmy * Mike O'Brien as Yach

Production

In May 2018, it was announced

, Jon Bass,

, Whitmer Thomas and Timothy Paul joined the cast of the film, with

writing and directing the film. Production concluded that same month.

Release

It had its world premiere at

on March 8, 2019. Shortly after,

acquired distribution rights to the film. It was the opening night film at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 16, 2019. It was released on July 12, 2019.

Critical reception

''Sword of Trust'' received positive reviews from film critics. It holds approval rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on reviews, with an average of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Expertly drawn characters and a strong sense of humanity make Sword of Trust an enjoyable – if a little meandering – journey." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film holds a rating of 70 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Marc Maron won Best Actor for ''Sword of Trust'' at the

Gijón International Film Festival The Gijón International Film Festival ( ast, Festival Internacional de Cine de Xixón or ''FICXixón'') is an annual film festival held in Gijón, a city in northwest Spain. History The festival's origins date back to 1963. In the beginning i ...

in 2019.

References

External links

* * * * {{Lynn Shelton 2019 comedy films 2019 films 2019 LGBT-related films American comedy films American independent films American LGBT-related films Films directed by Lynn Shelton IFC Films films 2019 independent films Lesbian-related films LGBT-related comedy films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films