Storm Saulter’s sophomore film, Sprinter, evokes a tale of a Jamaican coming of age drama packed with light-hearted humour. The film centres on love; love for money, love for the track, but most of all love for family. Sprinter follows the story of a “barrel pickney” Akeem Sharp (Dale Elliot), a seventeen-year-old athlete whose mother left for the United States to provide a better life for her family.Akeem’s local track & field success is fueled by his hopes of reuniting with his mother who has been living abroad illegally for the past decade. With a troubled father & a brother who is only concerned about his own financial gains, Akeem is soon torn apart by a family secret which discourages him from further competing to qualify for the international meet.
His friend and track mate, Kerry (Chantol Jackson) encourages Akeem to continue pursuing his passion but instead of running for his family, to run for himself. The fairly predictable plot serves an emotional drama that illustrates the realities of the Jamaican society. It portrayed social issues such as: immigration, lack of economic opportunity, crime (lottery scamming) and street children.