'The Inspection' is inspired by its director's real-life experience as a queer sailor

A24's new film 'The Inspection' follows a young Marine forced to battle homophobia at a boot camp in South Carolina. The film - which stars Jeremy Pope as Ellis French and Gabrielle Union as his mother, Inez - traces its protagonist's experiences in the military, including a brush with death during a hazing of his training officer and another recruit.

The film is based on the true story of Elegance Bratton, who directed the film and wrote its screenplay based on his own life experiences. According to a Nov. 17 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Bratton was kicked out of his house for being gay when he was 16. After nearly a decade of homelessness, he chose to enlist in the Marines, who employed the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy at the time. The policy, which ran from 1993 in 2011 allowed homosexuals to serve in the military - as long as they remained in the closet.

As a Marine, Bratton specialized in camera production and made short films for the military. He went on to study at Columbia University and later in NYU Tisch's graduate film program, where he wrote "The Inspection."

While many events in the film are based on Bratton's life, his relationship with his mother is one of the most realistic aspects, as the conversations included in "The Inspection" are based on real ones. In real life, Bratton never reconciled with his mother, who died shortly after A24 turned his movie green.

"Unfortunately, we haven't had a chance to resolve anything," Bratton told the Los Angeles Times. "That's why I'm so grateful to Gabrielle Union, because she helped bring my mother back to life for me and provided me, on a personal level, with closure that my mother couldn't provide. when she was alive. My mother was a very complicated woman - she was the first person to completely love me. She was also the first person to completely reject me."

Part of "The Inspection" is fictionalized, including the brutal hazing Ellis endures from Pope after his sexuality is exposed. Although Bratton himself was not bothered, he said many servicemen face this type of violent discrimination.

On the other hand, the support and purpose Ellis eventually finds in the military reflects Bratton's real-life experiences. "I really believed that I was worthless because of my sexuality," Bratton added. "I had no place in the world. As a black gay kid, I felt like any door I tried to walk through, I encountered some form of hostility or ostracism. I thought, 'There's nothing for me in this world. 'I'm going to die young anyway, like all my friends, so I'll die in uniform.' I was lucky enough to have a drill instructor say, “Your life is precious because you have the responsibility to protect the Navy to your left and your right. This responsibility has been transformational."

"The Inspection" is now in theaters.

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