Bad Axe

It will always be hard to imagine the year 2020 and not think of just how distressing of a year it was. Not only did we have the COVID-19 global pandemic, which killed millions of people globally and surpassed 1 million deaths in the US, but it was also a very polarizing and politically charged year. It’s hard to imagine being a business owner during that year while dealing with COVID protocols, the COVID outbreak, rebellious customers, and the lockdown, which had economic consequences. It’s even more difficult for Asian-American restaurant owners who lived in rural America during that time. Filmmaker David Siev gets a vivid and deeply personal inside look in at his Cambodian Mexican American family dealing with all the political discourse and COVID implications that swept through the nation in that divisive election year in his feature film debut titled Bad Axe.

With his perspective, Bad Axe provides a brutally honest portrait of the American immigrant experience that makes it rewarding. and it’s a raw examination of the xenophobia and bigotry that became normalized due to Donald Trump’s leadership and that have divided our communities and country even more. The documentary includes an examination of Siev and his family banding together and standing their ground as emotions escalated around the country and eventually spread to their small town of Bad Axe, Michigan. Even worse, Siev and his family not only had to deal with COVID implications that brought them economic and financial uncertainties, but they also experienced racism and even faced death threats in their small, right-wing, Trump-supporting town.

The Siev family are owners of a restaurant called Rachel’s, which was originally a small coffee and donut shop by David’s immigrant Cambodian father Chuan and Mexican-American mother Rachel that they expanded into a restaurant that has a very diverse menu of Asian, Mexican, and American dishes. During quarantine, David’s older sister Jaclyn arrives in town with her husband Michael, who actually end up working remotely at a table in the restaurant in between takeout orders, and Jacyln is such a great daughter that insists her parents stay at home and not work in the restaurant in the beginning months of the pandemic. David’s younger sister, Raquel, is a senior in college, who also ends up helping at the restaurant in between her remote classes as she dates a cook in the restaurant. While Michigan’s Govenor Whitmer mandates a lockdown in the first few months of the pandemic which only allows their restaurant to do carry out ordering. The restaurant has much slower days than what they are before, which brings a lot of panic and financial stress to the family.

At times, Bad Axe collapses into the TV-reality milieu as the family gets into some heated exchanges over very trivial things. Sometimes they are noble, like when Jaclyn insists that Chaun go back home due to his high blood pressure, but other times they argue over such vague nonsense that feels like it belongs on a reality show. The doc also fumbles when David injects himself too much in the documentary when he should have observed more and not pried into the family discussions until the cameras were off. Where the film ignites the most is when it explores the heated political discourse. We follow Jaclyn, Michael, Raquel, and her boyfriend (who is Black) to a local Black Lives Matter protest, where they are met with armed neo-Nazi pro Trump groups who have their faces covered, and it’s not because of the virus. As the protest remains peaceful, law enforcement separates the two sides, but Jaclyn confronts the armed men, who are clearly there to intimidate as the men yell out racial slurs. Already living in a very pro-2nd Amendment community, the Sievs are protected with automatic weaponry as they go out for target practice, and they receive death threats from a local neo-Nazi pro Trump group once they see themselves in David’s documentary crowdfunding trailer.

Bad Axe ends up becoming a deeply moving film that captures a very essential part of American history that will be studied and analyzed for generations to come. Once you see the Sievs household, their property, and automatic weaponry along with the PPE loads that I’m sure they received, the films true stake isn’t the loss of business from the pandemic, it’s from the Seiv’s taking a public stand against police brutality, racism, and against Trumpism. Siev is able to capture that history, and he allows the town’s bigotry that was hidden for so long to come to the surface. Sure, the Sievs could have played it safe and played neutral for the status quo, just like the enablers and oppressors want. With the racial slurs and death threats the Siev family endured (that got local media attention) during the pandemic, the family remained vigilant and banded together while servicing quality food and having hope that integrity and kindness would triumph in the end.

Siev’s family portrait ends up being a deeply compelling one. You will enjoy your time with the Siev; I felt like I got to know them very personally in their 100-minute running time. Jaclyn, the older sister, is a very tough subject, as she combats the bullies in her town. The film becomes even more heartbreaking as you begin to realize what your small town has become. It’s like David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, there is always a facade and something ugly beneath the surface. Covid and Trumpism certainly demonstrated that there was a hidden cache in 2020 with many of our friends, family, and community members. When Siev’s documentary ends, you could have easily watched more of it. Oddly enough, the documentary still feels like a work in progress, and that works in its favor because our nation always feels like a work in progress, even after our midterms, when our nation still had to fight off the same political forces that Seiv’s documentary explores. The film does fumble

Bad Axe is a generous love letter to family, to the American Dream, and a revelation of what rural America is really like once the fabric is exposed. Seiv’s documentary is a humane response to what life was like in 2020, especially how the anxieties and daily stresses were only amplified (especially as a minority) as Trump’s division on COVID takes aim at Asian immigrants in America as hate crimes increased during 2020. But it’s a film that anyone from all political circles can watch because it doesn’t have an agenda. It essentially begs the question, “Can people and even a community change?” The answer is yes, especially once people are more exposed to diversity and eventually get outside of their bubble; they have the capability of tossing out their preconceived biases and prejudices. Bad Axe explores these questions in one of the most personal and thoughtful documentaries you will see this year.

Bad Axe opens in theaters, including Cinema Detroit on Friday, November 18th

View trailer

Bad Axe – Official Trailer | HD | IFC Films – YouTube