Taking the world by Storm:“Better Mus’ Come” reveals a dark chapter in Jamaica’s political history.

Passion, politics and poverty play a pivotal role in Storm Saulter’s debut film “Better Mus’ Come” which is set in Jamaica’s turbulent ‘70s.

In the movie, Saulter, a political junkie, documents the Green Bay Massacre and the civil war that took place from the ‘70s into the early ‘80s between street gangs who were recruited and armed by the political parties to fight for control of their communities.

“I grew up with stories from my parents and elder Rastafarians about the CIA’s infiltration of Jamaica, but it was only during this research that I stumbled upon Jamaica’s chapter in the cold war,” shares the young director who aptly captures the era, environment and atmosphere of Kingston, Jamaica.

“Jamaica would have been an entirely different nation, and much better off, if not for this tragic time. Here was the most significant moment in our post-colonial history and we were taught nothing about it in school,” he says.

The movie centers on Ricky (Sheldon Shepherd), a single father who is released from prison after months of incarceration as a suspected political agitator.  A gang leader who has lost his will to fight for political principles he no longer believes in, he is hunted by the tragic death of his wife who he lost to gang warfare.  After he meets Kemala (Nicole Grey), a book smart country girl, who lives in the opposing neighborhood, it sets off an inevitable cycle of violence.

“Ricky is a political bad man, but he is also a real person with wants, needs, motivations, and hobbies. He represented personality traits that I have seen in a lot of leader types. Usually these guys are very charismatic, very intelligent and you can see why they have been chosen as leaders, because they have leader qualities and not because they are really brutal.”

Paired with a strong fascination for researching history, espionage, and political thriller films, Saulter, who not only wrote but directed and edited the film, felt he had to tell the story of the Green Bay Massacre.

“I always had a romantic idea about what the ‘70s and maybe the ‘60s were like, and I felt like maybe I should have been born around that time because it just seemed like a fair amount of freedom and movement.”

A film which has won numerous accolades at various film festivals, including a Best Director award at the Pan-African Film Festival for Saulter, “Better Mus’ Come” is a cinematic journey with a difference.

“When the film came out in Jamaica it was sold out,” he continues. “We have people at the epicenter of power during the ‘70s who have seen the movie and like it. Beverley Manley, who was the wife of Michael Manley at the time depicted, came to see the film. She said it reminded her of the days before the 1972 campaign with Michael Manley when they had seen the level of poverty in certain communities. She really loved it and thought it was a good and relevant piece of work and for me that meant a lot.”

A bold yet stylish approach and depiction of violence in Jamaica, for Saulter, whose influences include filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee and Stanley Kubrick, making a film set in his native island was a necessity.

“We were trying to make a film that could tell a universal story and put the violent behavior in our society into context,” shares the filmmaker. “I wanted to show that our reputation for celebrating gangsterism is the result of an entrenched political culture that continues to keep the masses separated and oppressed.”

The movie is beautifully shot, and the action is expertly choreographed to document the way petty rivalries spiral out of control to plunge a neighborhood into murderous gang wars.

Also starring Roger Guenveur Smith, Ricardo Orgill and Everaldo Creary, the performances, many from non-pros are terrific across the board.

“It’s a character driven story, and is about this young man who has come to the realization that what he has been fighting for all this time is really not worth it. It’s a more of character study of Ricky himself,” Saulter says.

Visually striking, Saulter’s use of voluptuous camera moves, close-ups and cinematography are impressive and he does a phenomenal job of piecing all of the plots and subplots together without missing a beat.

With several projects in the pipeline including a movie on the white witch of Rose Hall, the young director is kicking up a storm in Caribbean cinema.

Last year, he co-founded a collective called New Caribbean Cinema to showcase the next generation of talented Caribbean filmmakers and recently released “Ring di Alarm,” a compilation of eight short films by different directors about life in modern-day Jamaica. 

“The Caribbean is the most exciting place in the world to be making films right now. There are so many untold stories, which is an ideal environment for storytellers. My goal is to build upon the work of the great Caribbean filmmakers before me like Perry Henzell and Euzhan Palcy and make universal stories wrapped in the texture, language, ugliness, and beauty of our people.”

For more information on the movie visit http://www.affrm.com/better-mus-come/