A little research tells me that 59.3 million people, or roughly twenty-three percent of Americans, deal with mental health issues. Those figures come from the National Institute of Mental Health, and assuming that those figures haven’t been monkeyed with by DOGE, I’m inclined to treat them as accurate.

I’m one of those 59.3 million people. Most of the time, things are relatively copacetic in my head. Once in a while, though, I find there are an awful lot of knots up there, knots that have yet to be untied. The good news is, my issues are relatively mild. So much so that therapy every few weeks seems to do the job. Medication hasn’t been necessary (so far!) and I count myself lucky.

A lot of people aren’t lucky, though. They might be vets, they might be unhoused, or simply someone with serious enough problems that our joke of a healthcare system is incapable of helping them. What are they supposed to do – pull themselves up by their bootstraps? That’s part of the premise of the new indie dramatic thriller Bound, where a young woman does battle with her demons and comes to learn that she’s not alone.

Things are bad with teenage Bella (Alexandra Faye Sadeghian). Years ago, her father died by suicide. Her mother Yeva (Pooya Mohseni) never recovered, and neither did Bella. How could they? Trauma isn’t a thing you shake off. But Yeva unwittingly made things worse when she married Gordy (Bryant Carroll). He’s a low level cog in the machinery of a drug syndicate, the kind of guy who gets high on his own supply, is abusive to Yeva and Bella, and tearfully swears he’ll change. He won’t. He can’t.

Bella is also a talented artist. She works with metal, and she learns that she earned a scholarship to a prestigious New York art school. She also learns that Gordy hid her acceptance letter. No more, Bella decides. She’s determined to get her mother and herself out, away, to a better life somewhere that’s not in their podunk New York State town. She tries. She fails. Bella is forced to flee. She has no money, no prospects, only the clothes on her back, her phone, a pitifully small amount of money, and her pet flying squirrel, Bandit. 

Bella and Bandit find a way to New York City. For a time, things remain bad. She sleeps rough, steals to eat, and barely survives. She comes to learn that most New Yorkers, like most people, have an innate core of decency. The coffee shop owner Owais (Ramin Karimloo) gives her a job and a chance at stability. The bartender Marta (Jessica Pimentel) gives her a place to sleep. The amateur fashion designer Standrick (Jaye Alexander) gives her friendship. 

Slowly, painfully, Bella builds a life in New York City. Her mother is never far from her thoughts, and she yearns for a way to save her. When she discovers a (frankly ludicrous) connection between Gordy and one of her new friends, Bella begins to make a plan. It won’t be easy. Nothing in Bella’s life is.

If you’ve read this far, the first thing I need you to know is that Bandit lives. Props to director Isaac Hirotsu Woofter for making a gritty drama with feature elements that never dip into grimdarkness or needless cruelty. The tone of the film, along with the handheld style, reminds me a little of Michael Sarnoski’s Pig. Both films eschew overly slick style and sprint away from a warmer, Hallmark movie feel. On the flip side, neither one wallows in the grime of their respective rural and urban settings. Woofter does a nice job contrasting the chaos in Bella’s mind with the jangly energy of New York, and he wisely shows us that as her life stabilizes, she sees the world as it truly is – a flawed place filled with mostly good people.

Woofter wrote the screenplay, and on the one hand, I think his command of the genre elements could be stronger. He’s going for a crime thriller with a little splash of noir. In a situation like that, ideally, the main character ought to do something early on to attract the attention of the antagonist. Whatever that is, it should pay off in the climax. Good genre screenwriting merges genre tropes and real character aspects effectively. Here, the genre aspects are brought in by a coincidence that feels clumsy and ham-handed. 

Having said that, it’s a minor failing with Woofter’s script. As a writer, his real interest lies within characterization and relationships, and that’s where the screenplay shines. He’s interested in how people with mental illnesses navigate the world, and he throws together a young woman dealing with the trauma of abuse, a former vet with PTSD, an undocumented immigrant hiding in the shadows, and a Black gay man who protects himself from racism and homophobia with dagger-sharp wit. The script excels at showing us what drives these people and how they bond together.

Since Woofter’s actors had a strong script to work with, it’s no surprise they delivered strong performances. As Bella, Alexandra Faye Sadeghian is at turns damaged, strong, focused, and a raw nerve. She’s playing someone who’s all over the place, at least for a while, and it’s impressive how disciplined such a chaotic performance is. All of the other performances are noteworthy, but there’s one I kept thinking about, and that’s Bryant Carroll as Gordy. A lesser movie would portray him as a one-dimensional thug. Don’t get me wrong, Gordy is the kind of guy who will either end up dead or in prison. Yet Carroll shows us that he’s as damaged as everyone else in the film, and he has his moments of tenderness. For someone wildly abusive, Gordy is gentle and protective toward animals. That doesn’t make him a good person, but that distinction does humanize his character.

Years of movie watching has taught me not to expect nuance from films when it comes to mental health. Behavioral issues are either a mountain to climb or grist for the dramatic mill. The reality is that they’re a condition to manage. Bound innately understands that concept, and when it focuses on its characters, their struggles, and the found family* they build, it’s a winner.

*Having said that, I vote that due to the overuse of the term, creatives be banned from using the concept of found family for at least the next decade.

Tim Brennan Movie Critic

Tim has been alarmingly enthusiastic about movies ever since childhood. He grew up in Boulder and, foolishly, left Colorado to study Communications in Washington State. Making matters worse, he moved to Connecticut after meeting his too-good-for-him wife. Drawn by the Rockies and a mild climate, he triumphantly returned and settled down back in Boulder County. He's written numerous screenplays, loves hiking, and embarrassed himself in front of Samuel L. Jackson. True story.