Fleeing Summer

Inside a Sedona, Arizona summer school classroom, SANTIAGO CRUZ, (early 40s), Mexican, a U.S. history middle school teacher, gets berated by his students for being an illegal immigrant. Santiago explains that he hasn’t set foot in Mexico since he was a small child. Santiago’s son, JASPER CLEVENGER, (13), half-Mexican and half-White, gets bullied in the same middle school for his mom abandoning their family a year ago. BULLY #1 and BULLY #2 make fun of Jasper’s mom, and Jasper begs them to stop. Jasper brings his dad’s gun to school, and live streams the unfolding class period to show the world how cruel his bullies are. Jasper’s bullied again by the same bullies, but this time it’s even more brutal. Jasper pulls out a gun and points it at Bully #1. Santiago runs into the classroom, and tackles his son, ripping the gun away. Santiago realizes the gun is his — as an illegal immigrant, Santiago’s not allowed to own firearms. He runs away from school, as Jasper follows after him. The two flee together. Santiago and Jasper grab CAMILLE CLEVENGER, (20), Santiago’s daughter, half-Mexican and half-White, from a nearby college. In Camille’s college room, Santiago finds evidence of Camille’s eating binge, and her subsequent bulimia. Santiago explains to Camille that he’ll be deported once the police uncover that the gun Jasper brought into the classroom was his own. Santiago says that he has to flee. Santiago convinces Camille to tag along on their escape. Jasper’s in a deep stupor as the Clevengers drive away, he’s not responding or saying anything. The family does a “car switch” with an ORTHODOX JEW, swapping cars to evade capture. Jasper’s fascinated with a Jewish tefillin that he finds in the Orthodox Jew’s former car — a leather rope with a black box that coils around the arm, and a second one which snakes around the skull. SPECIAL AGENT WALKER, (early 30s) and SPECIAL AGENT CHEE (late 30s) pursue leads to track down the Clevengers. Special Agent Chee’s little sister was caught up in a school shooting last year, and catching Jasper means everything to her. The Clevengers hide in the Coconino National Forest. Jasper says he wants to go find their mom. Camille and Santiago balk at this idea, saying she doesn’t want to be found. Jasper fervently shouts that Santiago caused their mom to leave by not showing her love. Santiago makes it clear that he misses their mom, Sandra, too. They make a plan to drive to their grandmother’s house (Sandra’s mother) in Bisbee, Arizona the next morning. Jasper can’t sleep that night, his mind haunts him. In the morning, Jasper’s memories of what he tried to do the previous day flood him, he has a panic attack. A mob swarms the Clevengers, they flee the forest, but not before the mob stabs their tires. The mob thinks that the Clevengers are ISIS. Camille discovers online that millions of people saw Jasper’s live streamed attack, and now think that their whole family are terrorists. This is because Jasper was about to give a presentation on Islam when he pulled his gun out on Bully #1; Jasper was wearing an Islamic kufi cap, and had an Islamic book on his desk. Santiago pulls over the car, changing out the punctured tires for new ones, while Camille and Jasper search for food. Camille and Jasper discover a mosque, which advertises a potluck for all. They enter the mosque. Jasper is transfixed by the sermon of the imam, ABDULLAH, (40s). Abdullah preaches about turning to Allah to find forgiveness, and that Allah always forgives. Jasper asks Abdullah how to become Muslim. Abdullah hands Jasper a Quran to read. Santiago reminisces about his time in the Marines, staring at a photo of himself from 20 years earlier in a Marines uniform. He sings “A Horse With No Name” by America, trying to prove his patriotism to himself now that his country thinks he’s a terrorist. Camille and Jasper meet three Muslims at the mosque potluck — AALIYAH, (20s), KAMRAN, (4), Aaliyah’s son, and NAEEM, (17), Aaliyah’s younger brother. Santiago finds tons of hateful comments / death threats on social media, calling him a terrorist. Santiago discovers news reporters on T.V. calling him a “sleeper agent for ISIS”. Some fraternity bros find the Clevengers hiding in a bed & breakfast, and attack them with flame throwers through their closed room door. The Clevengers escape, but soon find semi-automatic weapon touting SUBURBAN MOTHERS attacking them. The Suburban Mothers spray the Clevenger’s car with bullets as Santiago drives away. Santiago hides their car in an alleyway, dodging the Suburban Mothers. The Clevengers watch a news report on Camille’s phone about rioters burning down their family home in Sedona. Santiago breaks down, then verbally assaults Jasper for his attempted school shooting, wanting answers and calling Jasper a monster. In Santiago’s mental health episode, he reveals to Camille that he served in the Marines in his youth by forging a birth certificate, but was discharged for committing fraud. Santiago admits that when he wore that Marines uniform it was the only time he felt truly American, like everyone else. He wanted to make his career out military service, but couldn’t. So, Santiago turned to teaching U.S. history to contribute, and give back for “stealing” a place in this country. Santiago says that when he was a teacher, he finally felt like “someone”, like a legitimate American. Now, he says he feels like anything but that, again. Santiago acts violent and unhinged, verbally attacking two women who walk down the street. He shouts at the women, asking them if they think he’s a terrorist. Camille and Jasper run away from their unraveling father. Camille and Jasper rejoin the Muslims at the mosque. The Muslims agree to let the siblings tag along on a bus ride to a farmland for a Muslim spiritual retreat. The farm is 50 miles from Bisbee, Arizona and will get the siblings closer to their destination — their grandma’s. That night, at the mosque, Jasper voraciously reads the Quran. Jasper tells Camille that he wants to be Muslim because Muslims don’t need priests to ask for forgiveness, they ask God directly; and that’s what Jasper intends to do. Jasper has a mental breakdown of his own at the mosque. He bashes his head against the floor over and over, regretting pulling out a gun on Bully #1. Meanwhile, Santiago buys meth from two Mexican gangsters. Santiago plays up his Mexican roots and speaks solely in Spanish, but his Spanish is rusty and sounds like a gringo.The Mexican gangsters get violent with Santiago, telling him he’s not truly Mexican and to never speak Spanish again. Santiago tells the Mexican gangsters that he used to be a meth head, and now that he’s lost everything, he wants to get high again. Santiago arrives in Bisbee. He greets DELILAH, (early 70s), Sandra’s mother at her house. Santiago tells Delilah that he plans to stay there for awhile. On the Muslim retreat bus, Camille meets a dozen Muslim women who are very friendly, and want to know more about her. Camille is curt, rude, and standoffish. Camille makes it clear that she wants everyone to leave her alone. We learn that Camille’s acted this way around other people since Sandra abandoned her. The Suburban Mothers catch up to the retreat bus in their own bus, and try to ram the Muslim’s bus off the road. A police car saves the Muslims. Santiago gets high on meth at Delilah’s house — it’s the same out of this world, euphoric high that he remembered. Santiago hints to Delilah that he wants to stage some kind of attack at the Bisbee Fourth of July fireworks show only a few days away. At the Muslim retreat farm, Camille and Jasper are gifted a moped and drive along the highway toward Bisbee, when they find a police checkpoint. The siblings are forced to return to the Muslim’s farm. Santiago reminisces about his teaching days, coming to terms with the fact that life as he knew it is over. The Muslim women act very motherly toward Camille, teaching her how to do Muslim prayer acts. Camille does her best to stop the women from connecting with her. Naeem breaks it to Jasper that Sandra wouldn’t have ran away if she loved him. Jasper explodes, and denies this reality. Camille starts to bond with the Muslims, despite her best efforts to sabotage it. Jasper asks Naeem a hypothetical question about what he should do if he hurt someone really bad. Naeem replies that there’s no point in God forgiving you, if the people you hurt still don’t. Camille gets drunk and admits to Aaliyah that she knows she’s been rude to the Muslim women, and that she’s sorry. Aaliyah asks Camille why she doesn’t let people get to know her. Camille replies that she doesn’t know. In Bisbee, Santiago goes on a meth-fueled cleaning binge, and verbally attacks Delilah for questioning his cleaning motives. Santiago, high on meth, builds pipe bombs, and hallucinates Sandra. Sandra’s hallucination tells him that his whole identity is fabricated, that he pretends to be an American, when he should embrace his Mexican roots. Santiago erupts at the suggestion, denying its validity. Camille watches two videos on social media that were direct messaged to her. In both videos, former schoolmates tell Camille that she shares responsibility with Jasper for his attempted shooting. Camille breaks down. Camille sits on the side of a mountain and binge eats a box of donuts, as she sulks. Kamran and Aaliyah find Camille. Aaliyah isn’t mad, only sympathetic. Camille hugs Aaliyah like she’s been wanting to do that for awhile. Aaliyah confesses that she enjoys spending time with Camille because they share a rare bond — the two can sit quietly with one another and ruminate, together but alone, listening to their own thoughts without worrying about an awkward silence. Aaliyah appreciates this quality in Camille. Meanwhile, Naeem discovers Jasper’s real identity, but keeps Jasper’s secret because he realizes whatever made Jasper snap in that classroom, doesn’t reflect the kid that he’s come to know. Jasper and Naeem travel on moped to find Bully #1, so Jasper can ask for Bully #1’s forgiveness. At Bully #1’s uncle’s house, Jasper begs for Bully #1’s forgiveness, but Bully #1 won’t forgive him. Bully #1 sees through Jasper’s deceit and says that Jasper is using God, begging for his forgiveness just to release himself of guilt and responsibility. At Delilah’s house, Santiago watches a Spanish telenovela. We see Santiago trying to connect back to his roots, and rediscover his identity. That night, Santiago runs out of meth, tweaks, then steals meth off a fellow user. The next morning at the farm, Jasper tells Abdullah that he finished reading the Quran and asks if he’s now Muslim. Abdullah asks what Jasper has learned. Jasper admits that he only wanted to be Muslim for Allah’s forgiveness, but says that the Quran taught him how to be a good kid, a good son. Jasper says that as long as he follows the Quran, he’ll remember it’s not okay to hurt someone again. Abdullah performs a quick ceremony, officially converting Jasper to the Muslim faith. Jasper and Camille leave the farm for Bisbee. In Bisbee, Jasper confesses to Camille that he prayed to Allah for forgiveness, but feels no different, just as guilty, like God might not have heard his prayer. Jasper and Camille are kidnapped by a WOMAN. They’re taken to Delilah’s house and find Sandra, their mother, there. They realize that Sandra’s new lover, LEXI, (40s), was the woman who kidnapped them. Jasper is out of his mind happy to see his mother. Sandra acts standoffish and distant from her children. Meanwhile, Santiago tears down Fourth of July American flags and patriotic holiday displays off front lawns. It’s finally the Fourth of July, and Santiago has five pipe bombs in a duffle bag. Lexi films a documentary with Jasper as its main star. She films him, and attempts to pry from him why he wanted to shoot his classmates. Sandra’s in the middle of confessing to her children that she won’t be coming back home with them, when Camille tugs Jasper away to avoid further emotionally damaging him. Camille yanks Jasper onto the street, where confederate soldier reenactors, who were hunting down the Clevengers, find the siblings and attack them. Camille, Sandra, and Lexi are caught by the soldiers. Jasper eludes capture and hides. Camille and Sandra are about to be hanged, when Jasper wraps the Jewish tefillin around his arm and head, and darts toward the soldiers, pretending to be a bomber. All the soldiers flee, except for MADDOG, who’s not convinced Jasper has a real bomb. Lexi sticks her pistol against Maddog’s head, and Maddog runs. Camille and Jasper persuade Sandra and Lexi that Santiago is close by and that they can direct them to his hiding spot, so that Lexi can continue shooting her documentary. Then, the siblings kick Sandra and Lexi out of Lexi’s car — Jasper shouts at Sandra that she doesn’t get to abandon them, that Camille and himself are the ones who abandon her. Jasper yells to a nearby crowd that Sandra is the mastermind behind the Clevenger family “terrorist plot”. Some of the crowd stampedes after Sandra, as Camille and Jasper drive off. The siblings arrive at a Bisbee local park to try and stop Santiago from attacking the firework watchers. Santiago is hesitant to bomb. He can’t bring himself to do it, as he watches the passionate, prideful people cheer on and celebrate their beloved country. These firework watchers remind Santiago of why he loves this country, and what it stands for. Santiago spots a young Mexican Marine, who marvels at the fireworks. Santiago can’t take his eye off the Marine, as he reminisces — Santiago sees a younger version of himself in the Marine. The Marine helps Santiago realize how far he’s fallen, what he has become. Local police arrive with bomb-sniffing dogs, and find the Clevengers. The Clevengers are arrested, together, as a family.