White Lightning

A warm, unhurried documentary that lets you sit with a family's hard history while quietly rooting for a teenager to outrun it.

Directed by

Mark Anders

Tagline

Three Generations. One Dream.

Overview

WHITE LIGHTNING is a gritty, funny, and uniquely American story about second chances, legacy, and what it takes to outrun your past. This feature-length documentary follows 18-year-old sprinter King Combest as he attempts to break his father’s 25-year-old national high school record–and the cycle of drugs, jail, and poverty that has shaped his Kentucky family for generations. King’s father Casey (aka “White Lightning”) was once an elite sprinter destined for Olympic greatness before a marijuana arrest derailed his career and left him working as a janitor on the margins of society. As King chases his father’s iconic record, it becomes clear that the real stakes are far greater: becoming the first man in the Combest family to earn a college degree and forging a path beyond a legacy of crime and addiction.

How it feels

Earnest, warm, melancholic and uplifting. Measured and needs your attention.

About

Family, redemption, coming-of-age, addiction

Content

Mild language. No violence, gore or sexual content.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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