Kin
Chased out of Detroit by a money hungry and vengeful criminal named Taylor Balik (James Franco), Young Eli (Myles Truitt) is harbored by his stepbrother, Jimmy (Jack Reynor) who’s fresh out of prison. But each new turn brings about more trouble, that is until Eli learns to wield a strange space blaster found in a decrepit warehouse; then again, new troubles, trading bad choices for worse, it’ll take interstellar involvement to set the boys on the right path. 
Written and Directed by Jonathan and Josh Baker this young adult adventure deals with a host of heavy topics but specifically looks at moral compassing, what it means to be be responsible adult, to do the right thing and the importance of family. Overall, there’s a lot to like about the messaging and story, standard as it may be, and the three leads are all well positioned and acted, Franco in particular sinks his teeth into skeezy evil like no other. And, setting up for a potential franchise, the nuts and bolts seem to be mostly in place; however, the biggest challenge outright for Kin appears to be hitting the marketing path just right. In the meantime a continued search for the next “big thing” is clearly what’s going on here, it’s tough to say if we’ll see the next chapter. Kin is rated PG-13.