Trans (1998)

Trans
DirectorJulian Goldberger
Genreindependent film
CountryUnited States

Plot

In a southwestern Florida youth detention center, Ryan Kazinski is having a difficult time with his confinement. Through prisoners' interactions with the guards and Ryan's own experience with the warden, the harsh conditions and level of discipline in the facility are shown.

While Ryan is on trash pickup detail, a fight breaks out between two inmates. In the ensuing confusion, Kazinsky and several inmates escape the prison. The young men run through an orange grove and a swamp, eventually coming to a farmhouse where they enter and steal civilian clothes. The inmates leave the farmhouse and travel down a dirt road to a rural convenience store where Ryan steals an ice cream bar. While he is eating in the restroom, the other two escapees steal a truck and drive away, leaving Ryan behind. Ryan emerges to find them gone and is questioned by some of the locals who take a liking to him and ask him about his plans and whether he intends to keep running. One of the locals gives Ryan a ride into town.

In the city, Ryan spends time listening to a street musician and talking with a parking meter. Ryan then ends up in a supermarket where he inhales nitrous oxide from whipped cream cans and observes and interacts with customers. Upon leaving the supermarket, Ryan steps on the bottle cap of one of two men who are drinking beer on the hood of a car. The men become offended and one proceeds to beat Ryan unconscious. While unconscious, Ryan has a vision of a silhouetted woman against a blue sky.

Ryan is recognized and awakened by three other ex-inmates, with whom he attends a party. He leaves, assuring his friends that he has a place to stay. Ryan visits his brother, who questions him as to why he ran when he only had one month left of his sentence to serve. Ryan cannot answer, and informs his brother of his plan to go to Colorado and seek out his mother. Ryan's brother then reluctantly tells him to leave before he becomes too attached to him again.

Ryan enters a bus station and asks for a one-way ticket to Denver. He discovers that he doesn't have the money for the ticket, and after attempting to bribe the bus station manager, he is thrown out of the station. Ryan then hitches a ride with a lady who takes him to a doughnut shop. While she is inside, he discovers a gun in her purse and steals it before running away.

Ryan is later approached by one of the other escapees who enlists his help in breaking into a veterinary clinic to steal drugs. The two break in, but while the other inmate steals the drugs, Ryan is distracted by the dogs in the kennels, one of which he frees and later places in the window of his brother's room.

Soon after, Ryan is spotted by police. He pulls out his gun, which the police notice, and then runs. The police fire two shots, but it is never made clear if Ryan is hit. The following morning, Ryan is seen observing planes taking off and landing at a small airport. He approaches a man sitting at a table and asks if he could take him up. The man notices the gun in Ryan's hand, and we then see the plane taking off. The film ends with Ryan looking out of the window smiling.

Cast

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