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Stars: Vayu O’Donnell, Tyra Colar, Spencer Garrett, Stacy Keach, Ericka Kreutz | Written and Directed by Quinn Armstrong

Presented as a police training video from the 80s, Survival Skills places the audience in the position of police trainee, telling the story of rookie cop Jim Williams – the star of the training video and the perfect human being; perhaps too perfect… his idealistic, almost unemotional, naive, personality earning him the nickname of Robocop. Jim’s idealism gets the ire of his partner Allison (Ericka Kreutz) who warns Jim about trying to be the perfect cop to no avail. However Jim’s idealism is set to be broken when Jim and Allison answer a domestic violence call at the Jennings household.

You see, in his attempt to be the best he can be as a police officer, Jim can’t leave the case alone. Even when the omnipotent narrator, and presenter of this...

The world isn’t what it used to be no matter how vehemently a Republican believes the opposite when explaining that the 1791 ratification of an American’s “right to bear arms” includes the civilian purchase of military-grade automatic weaponry. Technology exploded exponentially over the past two decades and our laws, infrastructure, and politics have been very slow to adapt. The reason is simple of course: the patriarchy. It’s why our country still believes it holds jurisdiction over a woman’s body. It’s why we funnel finances from education and mental health initiatives to our national thirst for violence a lack of both exacerbates further. It’s why our police force has ostensibly gone to war with the citizens it’s supposed to keep safe. “Protect and Serve” became “Control with Fear” overnight.

Because writer/director Quinn Armstrong understands that a lot of the suffering felt today comes as...