Payin’ the Price

Directed by 15-year-old filmmaker Jordan Coleman, PAYIN' THE PRICE tells the story of Jasper “Jazz” Johnson, the most popular boy at his high school. A proverbial golden child, he lives a privileged life as the star of his basketball team, the boy every girl wants, and the son of rich and successful parents. So when the police show up at school to arrest him on assault and rape charges, Jazz's life as he knows it is turned upside down. The accuser is Sabrina Degrath—a beautiful yet unrefined girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Fast forward to Jazz's trial in which we learn the story of Jazz and Sabrina's relationship through flashbacks narrated by the testimonies of several classmates, friends, and family members. Maybe Jazz isn't the great guy with the promising future that everyone knows him to be; maybe Sabrina and her mother are just out for some money. But when young, broken Sabrina takes the stand to disclose the brutal and domineering side of Jazz, what's revealed is the existent, ugly truth of teen dating violence. – M.M.