
Set in post-Vietnam 1974, The Fort is a beautifully crafted coming-of-age story that bravely tackles issues of abuse in the home due to the affects of war. By following our hero, Johnnie, we experience the anguish he feels on a daily basis from his father’s scrutiny, the challenges of being bullied at school and his belief that he is insignificant in the world. When the boys discover a tree fort along the river, it becomes their safe haven to unleash all the unbridled magic of childhood wonderment and the possibility for a better life.
Upon meeting a precocious spark of a girl, Lacey Stonewaller, in his 6th grade class, he’s enchanted by her acute military understanding: “I’ve got your six” which earns his trust. From that moment forward, Johnnie, Harry and Lacey become inseparable. Although Johnnie doesn’t believe he has any “God given talents”, his teacher, Miss Libby, tells him that he has a gift for writing and gives him a copy of “Catcher in the Rye” and a journal to foster his talents. When she assigns “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” for the class book report, Johnnie is inspired to build a raft and sail down the river hoping to discover a better world.
Lacking a positive role model, Johnnie is influenced by the social, political and religious environment of the turbulent times in which he lives. Throughout Johnnie’s passionate quest to escape his dysfunctional home life and find his life’s purpose, we witness him courageously rise to the occasion, devise adventurous plans of escape, stumble as he projects his uncontrollable anger onto others and pick himself back up, never ceasing on the mission. However, it’s not until a broken hearted Johnnie experiences a tragic loss that he earns his breakthrough moment by receiving life altering advice from his once imagined nemesis, Omar Wilson, the old man who lives down the street. In this benchmark moment, Johnnie learns lessons of self acceptance, unconditional love, forgiveness and the simple truth that you don’t have to travel far to choose a different way to be.
The film resolves 40 years later allowing us to see what becomes of our courageous Johnnie who broke the generational cycle of violence. We revel in the authentic life he’s created by using his talents to share his story with the world, leading him to the pinnacle moment when he’s ready to finally “let go” in such a profound, meaningful way, it could possibly inspire others to do so in their lives.