Walter Thompson-Hernández is an Afro-Latino filmmaker. He began as a writer for The New York Times. Based on his work there, he published a 2020 book about the Compton Cowboys, a group in Los Angeles that uses horseback riding and equestrian culture to provide a positive activity for inner-city youth, and to combat negative stereotypes about African Americans in the South Los Angeles area. Interestingly, the same year that Thompson-Hernández's book came out was also the same year Concrete Cowboy (2021) premiered, a film by Ricky Staub that is about an analogous group to the Compton Cowboys, but set in Philadelphia. It centers on a teenage, Black boy who gets a surrogate father in Philly's urban, equestrian circle. I mention Staub's film because this one by Thompson-Hernández fundamentally is also about a father-son dynamic, but an actual biological one. The dynamic doesn't directly involve horseback riding as a narrative plot point, but urban equestrian culture is woven into the backdrop of this slice-of-life and character study.
Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple and Orange is the New Black) stars as Lozita, a single mother of three children. She lives in Watts, which is not far from Compton in South L.A. She lives in what could be considered the ghetto or the hood. She works as a nurse, and she's doing her best to raise her kids. She doesn't seem to be dating or pursuing any kind of romantic relationship. The reason is because the man who is the father of her offspring has consumed her. Yet, the problem is that her man frequently goes in and out of prison. When he gets out of prison, he stays with Lozita, probably because he has nowhere else to go, but mainly because she thinks her kids need and should have their father present. She loves him, but she's now with him in great part due to her wanting him to be there for their children. Yet, it's becoming increasingly obvious that her children's father isn't getting closer but more distant.
J. Alphonse Nicholson (Clipped and P-Valley) also stars as Anthony aka "Big Ant," the aforementioned father to Lozita's kids. He's in and out of prison, probably due to drug charges, or other things. Initially, he was incarcerated because of his assault on a janitor. When the film opens, he's just been released but he's employed at a horse ranch where he cares for the equine. Yet, looking at him, he looks not that much different from a janitor himself. He seems to enjoy his job, but we catch glimpses that he's still doing illegal things like selling drugs. His daughter is an older teenager who looks like she's in high school and is about to graduate. He has two younger sons. His youngest looks like he might be 8 or 9. His first and eldest son is about 12 or 13, and Big Ant's relationship with his eldest son is the biggest focus here.
Much like Boyz n the Hood (1991), the single mother pressures and pushes the father of her eldest son to be more of a presence in their son's life. Here, Lozita does the same thing. That 1991 classic then depicted how that father rose to the occasion and was a noble and honorable representation, or a prime example of what a Black father should be. There have been other films that center on a Black father, single or not, struggling to make it in the world, facing socioeconomic issues, while trying to parent his son or child. Will Smith did so twice in his Oscar-nominated The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) and in his Oscar-winning King Richard (2021). Both these roles basically have the Black father succeed socioeconomically and parenting wise, or end up being a positive force.
Those Black father characters have their flaws, but they do end up being a positive force in their child's lives. This film suggests the opposite. This film opens with a scene of Lozita and Big Ant's eldest son, nicknamed Lil Ant, played by Bodhi Dell, at the beach. Lil Ant is there with his father, and it reminded me of a similar scene in the Oscar-winning Moonlight (216). That film is about a Black parent and child where the effects of the parent in question might not ultimately end up being a positive force. The parenting might end up being negative to some degree, particularly from the so-called father's perspective. Chiwetel Ejiofor's Rob Peace (2024) had a similar aspect where a Black father who winds up going to prison ultimately leads his child to going down a dangerous or hurtful path too. That film doesn't have the father getting released though.
Earlier this year, Rashad Frett's Ricky (2026) was about a Black man who does get released from prison, and has to navigate post-incarceration. The titular character didn't have any children, so it was a different dynamic. At first, I thought this film would be a version of Ricky but one from the aspect of a father, and it is that to some degree. Ironically, Frett's film is told more from a journalistic perspective and with more of a sense of realism than Thompson-Hernández who again began his career at The New York Times.
Thompson-Hernández instead directs this film in a more artistic and slightly more surreal way. How that surreal nature starts is through Lil Ant's narration and subsequent imagination taking control. Given the narration and some of the ways in which it was shot and edited, I got vibes of Terrance Malick's The Tree of Life (2011), minus the history of the world and a sequence involving dinosaurs. The more blatant vibes took me to the recent billion-dollar blockbuster, that of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (2026). Yet, this film is arguably the better adaptation of that epic poem by Homer.
Lil Ant fantasizes about the Greek mythology, superimposing them on aspects of things around him. For example, in one moment, his father embodies the spirit of Odysseus. Lil Ant would therefore be Telemachus but instead of having his father taken from him due to the Trojan War, Big Ant was taken away due to the so-called War on drugs, which disproportionately incarcerated a lot of African Americans. Yet, Thompson-Hernández doesn't dwell in the clichés of Black people and the drug trade. He expands it to be a broader conversation about masculinity and fatherhood. Big Ant does have his own Calypso in the form of a mistress. The film even has a Trojan horse of sorts in the form of a cardboard or papier-mâché one that Lil Ant creates, not to undergo a siege but merely to connect to his father.
Thompson-Hernández feels as though he's not just inspired by Homer's epic. He's also inspired by Spike Lee. Lee is a filmmaker who loves his hometown of New York City, particularly Brooklyn. Thompson-Hernández definitely seems to have a similar love of his South Central L.A., and the people in it. He honors them with direct-to-camera portraits. Lee is also known for his double dolly shot, which Thompson-Hernández absolutely mimics here. He also incorporates interesting iconography, including that of an airplane that could symbolize escape or freedom, or the things that are constantly passing the inner-city dwellers. Some of which are themes inherent in Homer's poem.
Not Rated but for mature audiences.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 35 mins.
In select theaters.
