2022, Drama/Lgbtq+, 1h 40m
Rating:R (Violence|Language Throughout|Some Nudity|Sexual Content)
Genre: Drama, Lgbtq+
Original Language: English
Director: Elegance Bratton
Producer: Chester Algernal Gordon, Effie Brown
Writer: Elegance Bratton
Stars: Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union, Bokeem Woodbine
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 18, 2022, Limited
Runtime:1h 40m
Distributor: A24
When watching this film, I am reminded of an Anthropology class that I took when returning to school later in life to garner a degree. The lesson that day was about the animal kingdom and how it travels in groups, but if the group deems that there is something wrong with one of the animals in the pack, they kick that animal out, leaving it to fend for itself.
In the animal kingdom, they deem the animal slowing down the progress of the pack/community as a whole. Usually, the animal dies or is killed in the wild, but more often than not, it finds a sense of community with other animals who were also kicked out of other packs.
I immediately thought of the Black community when I heard that and how we treat gay and lesbian people in the race. This is exactly what also happens in this film. Gabrielle Union is truly transformed and does a remarkable job as a bitter, heartless, and selfish mother of a son who, when he discloses to her that he is gay, kicks him out of the house at 16, leaving him to fend for himself on the streets for ten years.
He pays her a visit as a homeless man, and all that he wants is his birth certificate so that he can join the Marines as the last hope of having a life for himself besides living on the streets. But even that is asking too much of her.
