ComingSoon is excited to exclusively reveal that Buffalo8 has successfully acquired the worldwide distribution rights to the psychological war drama Young King. This comes after the movie had just recently won the Programmers’ Award for Feature Narrative at the Pan African Film Festival.

What is Young King about?

“Young King follows Diondre Howell, a late-20s Iraq War veteran whose undiagnosed PTSD makes everyday civilian life feel like another battlefield,” reads the synopsis. “Clinging to rigid routines and haunted by hypervigilance, Diondre becomes increasingly alienated from his family, including his mother Zoe, and finds fleeting solace in a relationship with Fatimah Danel, an Ethiopian immigrant rebuilding her own life after abuse. Denied VA treatment due to his military discharge, Diondre’s spiral intensifies, culminating in a tragic, gut-wrenching finale rooted in real-life events, including the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.”

Described as a character-driven drama, the movie is written and directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Bryant T. Griffin. The cast includes Vincent Washington (Bad Times at the El Royale) as Diondre Howell, Tarra Riggs (Ballast, The Help), Kirby Griffin (Perfect, Dying to Marry Him), Vaughn Wilkinson (Straight Outta Compton), and James Arthur Sims (Instant Family, Law & Order). It is executive produced by Buffalo 8 co-founders Matthew Helderman and Luke Taylor, along with Nikki Stier Justice. It is also produced by Selena Leoni for Little Paws Pictures and 1B Productions, serving as a producer.

“Young King is a gripping and unflinching portrait of a veteran’s return home, told with emotional honesty and cinematic restraint,” Stier Justice said. “It confronts the mental health crisis facing returning soldiers while offering a deeply human story that lingers long after the credits roll.”