There’s a line in Breaking, the thriller/drama starring John Boyega as a former Marine Corps veteran at his brink, that is so telling about the film, and society as a whole: “I’m going to die today.” That’s what Brian Brown-Easley (Boyega) says––a few times actually––over the course of the film’s tense 103 minutes, most of which take place inside the bank Easley is holed up with two hostages and a bomb.

“The intensity of it,” Boyega tells BET.com, “is something that is quite dark. The first few minutes of the movie bring you into a world in a sense of loneliness. And it's something that Brian has to handle throughout this process.”

Based on the true story of a veteran by the same name, Breaking chronicles that tragic day in 2017, when Easley––facing homelessness, fed up with the runaround over outstanding disability pay, and suffering from PTSD and schizophrenia––walked into a Wells Fargo bank outside Atlanta and announced he had a bomb.

His intention, as explicitly stated in the film, was not to kill anyone; in the article, the film is based on, from the Armed Forces magazine Task & Purpose, writer Aaron Gell methodically details how polite and gentle Easley was with the tellers, letting them know he only wanted to the attention of the VA and to get what he was owed. Despite his pledges not to harm anyone, his service, his clear mental duress, and the fact that (white) people who’d committed similar acts had indeed walked away, Easley knew what would happen to him.

“I think it's not revolutionary to say that race did impact that situation negatively,” says Kwame Kwei-Armah, who co-wrote Breaking with Abi Damaris Corbin, who also directs. “Maybe five years ago, there might have been a demographic in our population who might have denied that, but it's undeniable now. And it's part of what drew me to this project––the understanding of the righteous rage that structural inequality creates. It's not excusing anything [he did]. But what we do as artists is to look inside the crack and say, ‘Why? How did this happen? What could have happened to stop it happening?’”

Through flashbacks, Breaking unfurls how Easley, just 33, reached a crisis point. A loving father estranged from his wife, Easley had fallen into financial problems, brought on by missing payments from the VA. The  Task & Purpose article also details how Easley’s worsening mental illness led him to wander away from home for stretches of time. Viewers see how he repeatedly asked for help but was turned away (and worse) by the systems that are supposed to care for people who served. “I think the main message is empathy,” says Boyega. “It’s understanding how vets can be silenced in our society, I think a lot of us can't necessarily relate to that.”

It’s a heartbreaking story, and a gripping film too––due in large part to Boyega’s outstanding performance, which has him toggling between rage, vulnerability, and madness. (Some might see parallels between his frothing anger and Denzel Washington’s terrifying turn in Training Day but Boyega insists Denzel wasn’t on his mind in performing. “That would be messed up to Brian,” he says with a faint chuckle.) But another reason the film, which also stars an excellent Nicole Beharie, Connie Britton, and Selenis Leyva, is heartbreaking is because it’s the last film Michael K. Williams finished before he died in 2021. Playing Eli Bernard, an officer and fellow veteran who tries to get Easley some help, Williams performed most with Boyega in the film, their scenes taking place via phone but nonetheless still powerful.

“Michael was an incredible actor,” Boyega says. “He’s somebody that I definitely looked up to. I actually sent him a personal request to be a part of this movie, and he accepted it. It's something that I will always be forever proud of, seeing what he does in this movie. I think it's important for everyone to see.”