In the 1990's, there was an explosion of Black cinema, particularly crime dramas that depicted life in the hood or on the streets, such as the drug trade and gang violence. One of the films that kicked off that movement was Mario Van Peebles' New Jack City (1991), which was an African American version of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972). There were dozens and dozens of those kinds of films that were produced and put into theaters. Over the past 20 years, those films have decreased or largely disappeared from the multiplexes. Filmmaker Preston A. Whitmore II who came up in that 90's era essentially resurrected that era with his film True to the Game (2017), which was successful enough to spawn two sequels. Maybe Whitmore was simply jumping on the bandwagon because over the past five years, there has seemed to be yet another explosion of this kind of film, most notably in the "Black Independent Cinema" section of the streaming service, Tubi. There have even been some series in that vein, perhaps not on the level of HBO's The Wire (2002), but programs that are filling a void that has existed since the early 2000's.
Adam "Ace" Silvia is a filmmaker that is actively helping to fill that void. He's already put four feature films on Tubi in this genre. The one exception is Love Is Complicated (2022), which he co-directed. Yet, that film still has crime elements to it, as all his films contain some kind of organized crime element or depiction of gang violence. His latest focuses on a rivalry or war between two competing gangs that seem to be involved in both arms dealing and drug trafficking. Silvia opens this film with scrolling text that feels ripped from Star Wars (1977), but make no mistake. The film doesn't conform to the usual hero's journey, good guy vs. bad guy, template that is typical of Star Wars. It's not even about rebellion against oppressive regimes or systems. It's more a Black version of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) or a version of Queen and Slim (2019) that's less about a man and woman on the run from the law and more about a romantic couple trying to escape from the literal and metaphorical "trap house" that they put themselves in.
Sharief Johnson (Power Book III: Raising Kanan) stars as Brycen Miller aka "Ice," the leader of a drug gang called "Family Comes First" or FCF. He runs a trap house that consists of women who cook and cut the cocaine. These women supposedly sell the drugs as well. He seems to have grown up on the streets of New York City, particularly the Bronx. His main rival is another gang called "Just Dem Niggaz" or JDN. FCF is at war with JDN, but things are complicated because the leader of JDN is Ice's childhood friend. When FCF plans a shooting on JDN at the pizza shop that JDN's leader owns, Ice doesn't participate. He instead rescues one of the women that works there.
Arianna Jones (ATL Homicide and For My Man) plays Rihanna, the waitress at the pizza shop that JDN's leader owns. She's an aspiring actress who has unknowingly become a member of JDN. When Ice rescues her from the shooting at the pizza shop, she ends up hooking up with Ice, essentially falling in love with him. There's a cute Cinderella moment where she loses her glass slippers and Ice has to return them. Rihanna keeps her relationship with Ice a secret. However, the leader of JDN suspects that she might be involved with the rival gang. JDN's leader even threatens her. She becomes afraid, but that only makes her want to take down JDN even more.
Maiya Diarrisso, in her feature debut, plays Naomi, one of the women in Ice's trap house. She's referred to as the "Trap Queen" because she basically runs Ice's drug operation. She manages the other girls to make sure the drugs are being sold and the money is being collected. She also makes sure that when trouble comes, she and the others have the guns they need to defend themselves. She's a true gangster, fierce and unafraid, a girl boss. If Silvia's film is notable in any way, it's that he puts women in the forefront of this gangster story. Female gangsters aren't usually in the lead, but Silvia features bad-ass women in prominent positions.
A lot of those 90's films always have men in the lead as the gangsters. Those films never put women as the lead in any role other than the girlfriend or love interest on the side that normally isn't involved in the action. Of course, there have been films like Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) that have starred bad-ass women or girls with guns. Out of those films though, the girls with guns usually aren't Black women or Latina women. It's not to say that Silvia's feature is an action flick. It's not, and I don't want to mislead. Silvia's film has a couple of shootouts, but Naomi and the other women in the trap house are more posing with guns that firing off as many rounds as the guys get.
Silvia works with a group of actors with whom he's worked before, including Jake Lesh who plays Asha, a Russian mobster, Keith Van Nelson who plays Buzzy, a member of JDN, and Los Iglesias who plays Izan Acevedo, a Dominican connect who works with JDN's leader. However, one of the standouts is Derek Fox, or simply FOX, who also makes his feature debut as Dezmyn, the aforementioned leader of the JDN gang. FOX's presence here is what reminds me of New Jack City the most, as FOX's performance feels closer to Wesley Snipes in that 1991 crime drama. In fact, FOX's performance feels akin to Snipes' role in Demolition Man (1993), meaning bold, over-the-top energy where he's free to demolish whatever scene he inhabits.
*Disclaimer: Derek Fox is an actor who I (Marlon Wallace) have employed before in my own film projects.
Silvia's cinematography though is what's most outstanding. There are a lot of wide shots that allow for long, continuous takes where the actors are free to be bold and over-the-top. One scene between Johnson and Diarrisso where Ice is trying to leave Naomi exemplifies this camera style. Silvia also seems to love his gimbal shots, which also allow him to have long, continuous takes, as his camera floats around characters and in between in an immersive way. It also means that natural lighting or minimal lighting is probably mostly in play here, although Silvia also seems to like his lens flares, as beams of light frequently cut into his scenes.
Not Rated but recommended for ages 18+.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 32 mins.
Available on Amazon Prime Video.