Isaac Wright was poor growing up, the first son of a white and African American couple. He and his four siblings were sometimes hungry, especially the year his dad went to jail. At eighteen, he enlisted in the military and served honorably, sometimes with suicidal comrades. He returned to the States but was so depressed that he left the army. He had both PTSD and unexplored trauma from a childhood sexual assault.
He became a photographer but found that he felt the best when he was at the top of a tall building, not just the top floor, but climbing to the top of the building’s sign or radio tower, or climbing to the top of the structure of a large bridge. He would take his camera and a drone to film himself. You feel the danger as you climb each step with him. He soon establishes a status on social media under the name driftershoots.
He would sneak into buildings, bypass locks and security, and film the beautifully lit city below. He traveled from state to state doing this. After each break-in was discovered, a trail of arrest warrants for breaking and entering, trespassing, and even burglary followed him (though he never took anything but photos and videos). The police finally tracked him to Arizona after he was described as a terrorist because he had military training, and they had found him in a photo holding a gun. The photo was from his time in the army. A long stretch of trouble ensued, with one detective getting him re-arrested every time he made bail.
How this all plays out makes for a fascinating, suspenseful story, with some of the most beautiful nighttime city scenes you have ever seen. He has been compared to Keith Haring and Basquiat, both of whom broke laws to pursue their art. Director Deon Taylor does an outstanding job of bringing us into this man’s somewhat troubled but exhilarating life. Don’t miss it.