Set in the near future, SuperGrid follows the story of a young smuggler Deke (Marshall Williams, Glee), who is forced to make a run on the road that took the life of his sister. He has to convince his older brother Jesse (Leo Fafard, Wolfcop) to get back on the “Grid” and help him clear an outstanding debt. 

The Campbell brothers have been estranged since they lost their sister to the grid. Jesse (Leo Fafard, Wolfcop) has stopped making runs to the Grid and is living a reclusive life. Deke (Marshall Williams, Glee) has some debt he must pay to bad-guy Lazlo (Jonathan Cherry, Goon).

Deke, in his charming way, gets Jesse to agree to one last run through the Grid to collect and deliver a mysterious cargo. This notorious Grid encompasses part of Canada’s prairies landscape and the U.S.A. Along the way to pick up the cargo and back, Jesse and Deke face off road pirates and carjackers. When the miss their drop-off, all hell breaks loose. Lazlo unleashes his team of killers-for-hire. This leads to a violent showdown with Lazlo and pals at Black Lake, an Indigenous zone in North Dakota, and the last refuge on the Grid.

SuperGrid is set up as a sci-fi, semi post-apocalyptic, action film. There are some gaps in the plot, however, which left me wondering a few things. For instance, we do not know the entire back story as to why people are dying from some unknown illness called the “Black Lung”. There are some female characters I wish we knew more about. Eagle (Tinsel Korey, Z-Nation) and North (Natalie Krill, Molly’s Game), for instance, have important roles in the film and in the Campbell brothers lives. Aside from these small personal pet peeves, the ensemble cast works quite well within the storyline.

Written by Justin Ludwig and T.R. McCauley and directed by Lowell Dean, SuperGrid is a fast-paced, action-packed film. Cinematography by Michael Jari Davidson keenly places the Saskatchewan prairies as a green yet deadly terrain for this battle to the death. The film does borrow from well-known films like Mad Max, a bit of Blade Runner perhaps, but these are influences to be sure. It is clear the team behind SuperGrid have put together an entertaining film that will please crowds of independent genre films.