'Lowlife' Star Nicki Micheaux Reveals How the Film Predicted Our "Chilling" Political Climate

Merely hearing the name "Lowlife" conjures a variety of expectations from a film, with the movie's unique blend of multiple genres regularly offering audiences countless twists and turns. Lowlife delivers various horrors, with one of the unexpectedly depressing elements being the depiction of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and how it mirrors our current political climate. Star Nicki Micheaux detailed how the film, shot in 2016, offered an eerie prediction of the organization's impact on families.

"No one knew who ICE was. We had to explain it in the script what ICE was," Micheaux told ComicBook.com of the organization. "It's funny, [director] Ryan [Prows] tells the story. When they were supposed to wear police things, they didn't have them. So, they ended up wearing ICE things on the jackets, because they were afraid no one was going to know what ICE was."

A key component of the film's narrative is a rogue member of ICE manipulating his power to kidnap individuals. Feeling as though they have no options, the victims are forced to adhere to the ICE agent's orders.

"It's been chilling, honestly," the actress said of ICE's prominence in our culture and how it mirrored the events of the film. "We've gotten into the subject matter before, in the first movie I did [with Prows] I played a border patrol officer, and robbing drug smugglers. We've been dealing with border issues, and people of color, before. So, we were really familiar with the stuff, and ICE detention and that type of thing. What's interesting is, now that it's become more of an upfront conversation, people are starting to see how scary it is."

While some movies are intentionally created as cautionary tales regarding various elements of society, in the case of Lowlife, its predictive nature wasn't expected.

"It's been really chilling because when people see it, they're like, 'How did you know?' I'm like, 'Trust me, we had no idea,'" Micheaux admitted. "It's so interesting talking to audiences because it's shocking for them, in a way. There's so much that's shocking about the film, you know? I don't know if it's a great conversation starter, but it certainly makes you think about stuff, because all this stuff is happening. Sex trafficking is happening, the organ harvesting is happening. Bad, scary, but true."

Stay tuned for details on Lowlife's release date.