by SARAH ROWLAND

Anyone who’s ever tended bar in a music venue knows all too well about the straightedge movement. Its members, after all, are the bane of the service industry. The scene is made up of non-tipping punks who brand themselves with big “X”s to let the world know they’re militantly opposed to just about everything under the sun, most notably booze. They show up to gigs, usually pumped on coffee, only to nurse water all night long and judge those of us who enjoy the occasional bevy. Well, those java-drinking, jive-talking kids finally have a movie for and about them: Threat, a DIY indie about a deadly New York riot.

In true guerrilla-style filmmaking, Threat is the product of nearly 200 non-professionals from NYC’s hardcore punk and underground hip hop communities. The story revolves around the unlikely friendship between Jim (Carlos Puga), a homeless straightedge kid who ran away from the hypocrisy of the ’burbs and Fred (Keith Middleton), a struggling hip hop artist with a young family to support. They work in a comic/mag shop together and spend many hours sounding off about how flawed the “system” is. These philosophical jam sessions are very reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s early work, circa Slacker, only not nearly as enlightening. (Which makes sense since Linklater was around 30 when he made his ’91 cult classic, whereas Threat’s cast and crew are all in their teens and early 20s.)

As the film earnestly cycles through the usual post-9/11 conspiracy theories, via Fred and Jim, you can’t help but feel as though you’re listening in on a couple of teens who have only just realized that the world is fucked. The only difference is Fred and Jim’s revolutionary ideologies are eventually put to the test when they try to unite their respective crews at a mangy punk rock show, and things go terribly wrong. Perhaps a little too predictably, the black-and-white divide turns into a bloody battle with casualties on both sides.

Suffice to say, if you’re looking for two hours of finely crafted cinema, Threat is not your movie. But if you want to support the arts at their rawest, most street-entrenched level, here’s your chance.

Threat opens at Cinéma du Parc Friday, Feb. 3

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