At the center of this Sundance Film Festival award-winning film is the touching and intimate family story of a mother and son. But One thousand and one It looks through the window at New York City, where changes in gentrification and policing and welfare policy have direct consequences for the protagonists. A film may be set in a particular place at a particular time, but film depictions of despair, poverty, bad choices, and enduring love are universal and timeless, from the works of Emile Zola to recent stories. In the news cycle.
It all begins in 1994, when 22-year-old Innes (Teyana Taylor, whose strength set the screen on fire), fresh out of Riker’s Island prison, is trying to find a legal job as a hairdresser in Brooklyn. When her six-year-old son Terry realizes her time is running out, Ince decides to make amends by grabbing Terry and running to Harlem to raise him.
Kidnapping occurs, resulting in name changes and forged papers to send the child to school. As Terry grows up (Aaron Kingsley Adetola, then Avon Courtney, then Josiah Cross, all good), he becomes a handsome, intelligent young man with a responsible old soul. Inez makes several mistakes, including leaving six-year-old Terry alone for hours in an apartment with a full TV and refrigerator. She eventually grows up, and later turns to her boyfriend Loki’s (Will Catlett) parents, another former partner, for help. But secrets can be revealed, and what is revealed in the final act will change everything.
Writer-director AW Rockwell sometimes experimented with over-the-top plot and social commentary in his early films, veering toward melodrama in the final act. But refined presentations, beautiful camerawork, and soothing jazz music compensate for this excess by creating a sense of grandeur rare in contemporary urban tragedy stories. Compare with dear And The light of the moon They were inevitable, however Mila and Bat They have special meadows and forests.
★★★★☆
In UK cinemas from April 21.
