The Land

Hungry to escape narrow horizons and zero-option lives, a gang of teenage skateboarders become fatefully entangled with stolen drugs and female mobsters in director Steven Caple Jr.’s fast-paced debut feature, a gritty crime thriller set on the mean streets of Cleveland. Big-screen novice Jorge Lendeborg Jr. makes an engaging young antihero, aided by a classy supporting cast including THE WIRE veteran Michael Kenneth Williams. An impressively starry soundtrack features one of the film’s producer, hip-hop legend Nas, plus Erykah Badu and Colson Baker, aka Machine Gun Kelly, both of whom also play small roles.