Prayer of the Rollerboys

Plot summary

Haim stars as Griffin, a rollerblader in near future Los Angeles, a city overrun with crime and drug use in the wake of a catastrophic economic crash caused by the greed of previous generations. The film includes ominous events, including news reports of riots in Washington D.C., a newspaper headline that proclaims "GERMANY BUYS POLAND" and references to the Israeli Defense Forces "cleaning up Northern Ireland".

A rollerblade-wearing white supremacist gang known as the Rollerboys fight for control of what's left of the city. The fascist group is led by a childhood neighbour of Griffin's. The Rollerboys carry out their eugenics agenda through violent battles with ethnic gangs and through the distribution of the drug "mist". When Griffin's little brother begins to idolise the Rollerboys and eventually starts abusing mist, Griffin is convinced by an undercover cop (Patricia Arquette) to join up with the Rollerboys as a mole, in exchange for a better life for his brother.

Having joined up, Griffin's loyalties to the gang are eventually called into question and he is tricked into nearly beating his African-American friend Speedbagger to death. He also discovers that the Rollerboys' mantra "the day of the Rope is coming" actually refers to a toxic chemical "Rope" being added to the mist drug which renders its (mostly non-Caucasian) abusers sterile, enabling the gang's genocidal goal.

Cast

Reception