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The year 2020 was unlike anything any of us had ever experienced. As the COVID pandemic spread around the world, businesses and schools shut down, countries went into lockdown, and people struggled to adjust to a new reality. For one tight-knit family in Michigan, the year meant one challenge after another—and the documentary Bad Axe follows them through it all.
Bad Axe explores the events of 2020 through the eyes of a family living in the conservative small town of Bad Axe, Michigan. When the pandemic hit, New York-based filmmaker David Siev decided to move back home—along with his girlfriend, his three sisters, and his brother-in-law. He documented the experience, as his Cambodian-Mexican family lived and worked together, trying to keep their family restaurant running, despite lockdowns and mandates. And as the months passed, he followed his family through a tumultuous year of not just financial challenges but also political and social unrest.
As their story unfolds, it brings so many layers of tension and drama. Though the family bands together to keep their business afloat, they all struggle in their own ways, juggling responsibilities and fighting through decisions. In the restaurant’s empty dining room, youngest daughter Raquel attends online classes to finish her degree, while Jaclyn and her husband, Mike, attend meetings for their corporate jobs. At the same time, Jaclyn and her father, Chun, often butt heads when it comes to both business and personal decisions. While Jaclyn is more progressive and outspoken, quick to enforce their policies and stand up for what she believes, Chun reverts back to memories from his experiences in the Killing Fields of Cambodia, preferring to keep quiet—hoping that his silence will keep the family safe while preparing for any threats.
Throughout the year, this family faces so much beyond just the challenges of the pandemic—and the mandates that many of their more conservative clientele oppose. They also face racism and hatred and backlash, and they stand up to white supremacists at the local Black Lives Matter rally. Through it all, they work together. They love and support one another. And sometimes they yell and curse and fight with each other. But the film embodies the family’s spirit, their determination, and their love for each other and their neighbors—no matter how difficult this turbulent year gets.
Bad Axe captures all of the challenges, all of the celebrations, all of the fear and heartbreak, of this unprecedented year. It’s often an emotional experience—an intimate, loving, and powerful portrait of this family, their challenges, and their dreams.
Relive this tumultuous year with the Siev family by watching Bad Axe in select theaters or on demand, starting on November 18, 2022.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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