Nathan Tape’s excellent first feature film, Off Ramp, kicks the well-worn road trip genre in the throat and cackles as it runs away. Taking the formula of “two guys in a van chasing their dreams” and bending it like a green branch, Off Ramp is violent, wickedly funny, and achingly sweet. Off Ramp also provides a fascinating glimpse into the mindset and lifestyle of an infamous niche subculture. Trey (Jon Oswald) and Silas (Scott Turner Schofield), the main characters in Off Ramp, are Juggalos.
Yeah. Juggalos.
Those fans of the hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse and other performers on their label, Psychopathic Records. When one thinks of Juggalos, one conjures up images of people in black-and-white clown paint showing off their tattoos of spiky-haired, hatchet-wielding figures. It’s not a stretch to say that Juggalos scare off the normies.
That doesn’t bother Trey or Silas. They love the Juggalo life. Within that societal structure, they have found meaning and purpose. Juggalos are their family. But after spending a year in jail, Trey is ready to pull back from that life a smidge. His time behind bars has caused Trey to mature. He’s not ready to engage in the brutal side of things that landed him in jail in the first place. Silas, however, is still a wild one. He has an insane amount of drugs hidden in a duffel bag in the back of Trey’s van. Silas and Trey make their way to the yearly Gathering of the Juggalos, where Silas plans to pass around his rap demo.
When Trey decides to get off the interstate and drive through the heart of Mississippi, things take a horrible turn. Police are involved, but so are old enemies, new loves, and blood. Lots and lots of blood.
Showing the Juggalos as a stereotype would have been the obvious and easy way for Off Ramp to take. Tape and co-writer Tim Cairo avoid that. Trey and Silas are consistently interesting characters. For most of the film, they don’t wear the trademark Juggalo face paint, allowing the audience to think of them as humans and not cosplay rap fans. Information and pieces of history are revealed slowly, sometimes off-handedly, until the characters become fully realized people.
Every character in Off Ramp is traumatized, damaged by actions in their pasts. As Trey, Jon Oswald exudes stoicism and a tough exterior, but the tenderness in his eyes is obvious. His emotions, complex and difficult to process, lie right beneath the surface. Scott Turner Schofield takes the opposite approach as the twitchy Silas. We know what Silas is thinking before he does, a mischievous smile creeping onto his face right before the shit hits the fan. Watching Trey and Silas interact is the high point of Off Ramp. They talk to each other like real friends and even when one of them does something stupid, Trey and Silas have each other’s backs. Subtle performances from Oswald and Schofield make Off Ramp something special.
Given the context, Off Ramp provides the audience with a hefty dose of Juggalosity. Terms and Juggalo phrases like “The Dark Carnival” are peppered throughout the script. While that may sound daunting to viewers not familiar with Juggalos or their worldview, Tape and Cairo use those words to establish a form of world-building. By the end of Off Ramp, audiences will have a working knowledge of the Juggalo Universe. There has not been a film that shows a secret side of humanity not often seen by the general public as well since Peter Weir’s Witness. In that respect, Off Ramp is a marvel.
That doesn’t mean things don’t get weird. Off Ramp takes off in directions both strange and touching, putting Trey and Silas through the wringer. Some scenes drip with both blood and weirdness, but Off Ramp remains grounded and makes those sequences feel logical.
It would be simple to dismiss Off Ramp as “that Juggalo movie,” but it is far more than that. Off Ramp is a study of family, the power of the disenfranchised coming together to celebrate something greater than themselves. Powerful, touching, and — let’s be honest — fuckin’ weird, Off Ramp is a must-watch.
Off Ramp made its East Coast Premiere at the Boston Underground Film Festival on March 22, 2024.
