SOVEREIGN
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Directed by: Christian Swegal
Starring: Nick Offerman, Jacob Tremblay, Dennis Quaid
Release: June 8, 2025
Platform: Streaming (Hulu)
Rating: 4.5/5
By Crystal Justine
“The film digs into the slow, suffocating erosion of individuality.”
SOVEREIGN is the kind of film that knocks the wind out of you, before you even realize what’s happening. From the opening audio alone, there’s a heaviness that resides in every frame, a sense that something deeply unsettling is about to unfold. The film had a limited theatrical run over the summer and barely a whisper of a release, but now that it’s streaming on Hulu, audiences can finally see the film that should’ve been in the conversation all year.
Nick Offerman leads the charge with a performance that reminds you he’s not just the comedic actor from Parks and Recreation. Yes, he’s absolutely hilarious but Offerman’s dramatic range has been quietly devasting over the past few years. Look no further than his standout episode of The Last of Us, which many would argue is the single best of the entire series. He has this rare ability to emotionally gut-punch an audience without all the theatrics. In SOVEREIGN, that strength is on full display. The performance is controlled, intense, and painful.
Opposite him, Jacob Tremblay continues to prove why he’s one of the strongest young actors working today. From Room to The Life of Chuck, he’s shown an uncanny gift for portraying vulnerability without making it performative. That soft, exposed honesty is exactly what his role here demands. Tremblay taps into the kind of emotional clarity most actors don’t reach until decades into their careers.
At its core, SOVEREIGN is a story about the damage parents inflict when they try to shape their children into extensions of themselves, rather than letting them become who they truly are. The film digs into the slow, suffocating erosion of individuality—how parental control, masked as protection or legacy, can fracture a child’s sense of identity in ways that echo on for lifetimes. Layered into that is a broader commentary on human rights, government structures, and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) compromises people make just to fit into the world they were born.
SOVEREIGN is one of the strongest dramatic films of 2025. It deserved a bigger push, a wider theatrical release, and a marketing team that understood what they had in their hands. But now that it’s accessible on Hulu, there’s no excuse to miss it. It is a tough film to watch but one absolutely worth the emotional toll.
