Summary
A mother, played by Danielle Deadwyler, campaigns for justice after her son, played by Jalyn Hall is murdered.
You can’t say that this film doesn’t move you because it does. Whether you are a parent or not, whether you know the insidiously acidic taste of injustice or not, this film will stir you. This is an incredibly affecting film on many levels that screams out to be heard, and one that seeks to open your eyes to the horrors that are sometimes happening right under our noses on a daily basis.
However, I think the social awareness of this film also becomes somewhat of a double edged sword for it. This film is incredibly preachy, and though that is understandable to an extent this film is relentlessly so, not only that but it goes about its preachy in an incredibly smug way. Make no mistake dear reader that this film is Oscar bait and knows what it is and that makes the preaching all the more blatant. This film thinks it should win and Oscar.
I thinking putting real world issues to the side for a moment and turning instead to just focusing on the film we are met with a fairly middle of the road social commentary/drama film that though covering a new instance of injustice doesn’t do anything new with it the plot of the film is one we have seen many times before. Yes, I acknowledge that the reason we have seen this particular narrative so many times before is because these sort of issues are common place and happening all the time within our society and Hollywood is right to talk about them through film, however, from a film narrative perspective it is creatively repetitive.
Deadwyler is a terrific lead, and this along with The Harder They Fall highlights not only that she has a lot of talent but also a lot of range. I see big things in her future. Deadwyler really is the beating heart of this film and deftly carries the weight of it on her shoulders throughout.
Overall, a powerful film yet one that is brought down by being incredibly preachy.
3/5
Pros.
The emotion
It is a powerful story and a powerful message
Deadwyler
Cons.
The delivery of said message is incredibly heavy handed and the preaching does become incredibly too much at times
The narrative feels repetitive
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Another Millennial Reviewer 