The Land

Filmmaker Steve Caples makes a promising debut with this street melodrama, slickly shot in some of the shabbier parts of Cleveland and featuring the production talents (and occasional small onscreen roles) of hip-hop artists Erykah Badu, Nas, and Machine Gun Kelly. Gangsta rap is a muted element, however, in the downbeat narrative of three skateboarder teens (newcomers Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Moises Arias, and Ezri Walker) facing no-hope, minimum-wage futures in the Rust Belt, who hijack cars for needed cash. When they take a vehicle holding a fortune in ecstasy pills, they run afoul of a drug kingpin…or rather, a queenpin—a matronly criminal (Linda Emond, working hard to prevent the characterization from completely sliding into camp) who operates under cover of a stall at a popular food market. A decent urban drama, this is a strong optional purchase. (C. Cassady)