Sway (Emmanuel Kabongo), the protagonist of a film bearing the same name, talks proudly about a large football field. That field is in the neighbourhood he grew up in, one that reversed crime rates because of his grassroots contributions. He’s a property owner, the brother of Cy (Tony Ofori), the latter an NFL draft pick. But in an interview with Lisa (Mishael Morgan), he learns that Cy made some bad bets and vanished into thin air. The film follows an interview session that phone calls keep interrupting, some coming from a British bookie. Another comes from Jade (Brittany Raymond), a jilted ex who may be a part of a larger conspiracy to ruin him.

Filmmaking duo Hamilton and Ramelan are behind a film that looks polished enough despite only filming for six days. Most of the film takes place in Sway’s condo, a few flashback scenes and maybe two scenes to wrap this up. Economical film making like this is just as much about the characters with small screen time yet big impact. Specifically, that character is Cy, whose downward spiral can bring down Sway and with him, his neighbourhood. Some of the film making though includes enough flashy camera movements and filters reminiscent of 2000s era Tarantino. Other techniques in Sway are simpler, closeups of Lisa and the protagonist in an interview where the latter falls apart.

A film where more than one character is his brother’s keeper, Sway has moments that make me double take. Again, the interview gets too many interruptions when Sway has to go to another room and call people. Each call gets more adversarial and louder than the last which reminds me of that audition scene in Mulholland Drive. Why is Sway yelling within earshot of a woman whom he needs to try to impress for a 40 under 40 magazine puff piece? And why is she putting up with what seems like unprofessional behaviour of a man pretending to be a leader? I guess one can explain Sway’s behaviour as breakdown behaviour but that doesn’t explain Lisa’s ‘passivity’.

Another thing that Sway doesn’t do is connect the protagonist’s community building with a crime that haunts his friend group. The film, then, explains the weird dynamic between Sway and Lisa with a twist that I would call passably satisfying. Nonetheless cinema is about watching a character experiencing a terrible day reminding viewers of ones they’ve had. And central to this film is an ambiguously moral figure whose lies don’t make him a truly bad person. I’ll chalk up some of the bad character decisions to the direction rather than to Kabongo’s otherwise ambitious work. There are things that he and the film can do better but I like its highs and lows.

Cinema lovers can watch Sway in select Canadian theatres.