Bocas Film Fest Judge Rating: 8.9/10
Turmoil is the kind of independent film that reminds us why festivals like Bocas Film Fest exist. This isn’t a movie built around a massive budget, professional actors, or a huge production crew. It’s a movie built around people, experiences, and something the filmmaker genuinely needed to say.
First-time filmmaker and Iraq War veteran Dante Trinidad assembled a three-person crew and worked primarily with real American combat veterans rather than professional actors. That immediately gives Turmoil an authenticity that would be incredibly difficult to manufacture.
The story follows a homeless Iraq War veteran who finds himself inside a local judo gym and slowly becomes part of the unusual family that exists there. What begins as an encounter with a gym ultimately becomes something much deeper—a story about trauma, friendship, discipline, belonging, and finding reasons to keep moving forward.
I really liked the message behind this film.
Turmoil isn’t afraid to bounce between humor and some very heavy subject matter. There are moments of darkness followed by crude humor and laughter, and that contrast becomes part of the movie’s personality. It shows people attempting to deal with painful experiences in different ways rather than presenting trauma through a perfectly polished Hollywood lens.
Knowing how this movie was made makes the accomplishment even more impressive. Creating and completing a feature film is difficult under the best circumstances. Doing it essentially zero-budget, with a three-person crew and a cast largely made up of nonprofessional actors is something worth recognizing.
The filmmaking and editing particularly impressed me considering the resources available to the production. Instead of focusing on what the filmmakers didn’t have, Turmoil demonstrates what independent filmmakers can accomplish when they use the resources, people, and experiences they do have.
There is also something especially meaningful about Dante Trinidad making this his first film. He isn’t approaching the subject of veterans simply as an observer. He served in Iraq himself and later became a registered nurse. That personal connection comes through in the story he chose to tell.
Turmoil may deliberately be rough around the edges, but that’s also part of its identity. There is heart underneath that roughness.
At Bocas Film Fest, we love discovering filmmakers who aren’t waiting for someone else to give them permission to create. Dante and his team went out and made their movie—and they made one with something to say.
Great message, impressive filmmaking and editing from such a small crew, and an incredible amount of heart behind the production.
Great work.
8.9/10
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