In a matter of weeks, James Williams is scheduled to be in Jamaica for the final phase of production on Squatta, a movie he began work on in June 2025. The American filmmaker has it earmarked for an October release.

Production on what he describes as a thriller/horror flick started in his hometown of Warrenton, Georgia. Last September, the director and his Twilight Ebb crew visited Kingston for four days to film scenes with Jamaican actors, including Christopher Daley, Kadeem Wilson and Stokely Brown.

A fan of Jamaican crime dramas such as Shottas and Third World Cop, 50-year-old Williams began drafting the script for Squatta in 2008 after seeing a squatter’s settlement during a visit to Trinidad. While in Kingston several years later, he observed the city’s rugged landscape and was inspired to update it.

“The overarching theme of the film examines classism and how the oppressed remain resilient until they reach a breaking point; everyone has a breaking point, so I wrote the story in hopes to connect with anyone who has been pushed too far,” said Williams in an interview with Observer Online. “If I had to sum it up, the theme is revenge. The film is actually a thriller given the horror treatment.”

Brown, best known for his role in the 2015 movie Jamaican Mafia, was the first Jamaican cast by Williams. Daley and Wilson also have substantial roles, with appearances by actress Joan McKenzie, singer Blvk H3ro, deejay Mr Easy and Esco (formerly of Esco and Leftside).

Squatta is the fourth feature project by the Maryland-born Williams, a graduate of Howard University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in radio, television and film. A 21-year member of the United States Army, he left the service in 2021 with the rank of major.

Most of the US$250,000 budget for Squatta has come from his personal resources. The initial scenes were shot at his property in Warrenton.

Williams says while he admires gritty Jamaican crime movies, he wants to make a personal statement with Squatta.

“I am a big fan of the Jamaican ‘badman’ genre; Dancehall Queen, Shottas, Third World Cop, and even (American movie) Belly. The low production quality of those films helped to define the genre in similar ways that black people in the United States defined the Blaxploitation genre of the 1970s and accepted the cheesy, dubbed Kung Fu flicks that we couldn’t stop emulating,” he noted. “It was something about those films that kept us entertained. It was the strong storytelling of the filmmakers, immense talent of the actors, and a profound sense of culture with regards to music and fashion. Enough essential elements for the films to be good.”

Stokley “Massup” Brown congratulates Hervin “Blvk H3ro” Baily after wrapping a scene on the set of Squatta at National Stadium, Kingston.