Teyana Taylor (Coming 2 America and Madea's Big Happy Family) stars as Inez De la Paz, a woman who gets out of prison in 1994. She likely was behind bars for theft or maybe more serious robberies. When she does, she tries to get work as a hair stylist, but she was staying in a homeless shelter. It was never a good situation and she's desperate for something better or at least something different. It's hinted that there might have been some substance abuse or possible drug-related issues. Yet, she's committed to doing better.
Writer-director A.V. Rockwell, in her feature debut, probably recognizes the recent lack of mainstream films about the coming-of-age for Black characters. Yes, this film is about a woman trying to be a good mother, which is Inez's huge struggle here. Her goal is to provide a life for her child that is better than her own childhood. That could be enough, but Rockwell also gives the child's point-of-view and subtly shifts perspectives to Inez's child, so the film does become more of a coming-of-age story for a Black character.
Josiah Cross (King Richard) co-stars as Terry Wallace, the 17-year-old version of Inez's son. He's very smart but very shy. It's a result of how he was raised. For the first, six years of his life, he was mostly in foster care. He never really knew his biological parents. He was virtually abandoned. When Inez arrived to take him out of foster care, he had already become introverted, believing that nobody wanted him. Like with a lot of foster kids, he simply wanted a permanent home with a mom and a dad.
One could argue that the structure of this film is akin to Moonlight (2016). That Oscar-winner focused on the coming-of-age of a Black man where we see him as a prepubescent boy, then later as an older teenager and then finally as a grown adult. This film similarly depicts Terry at three, different time periods. We first see him as a 6-year-old, played by Aaron Kingsley Adetola. We then see him as a 13-year-old, played by Aven Courtney. Like with the casting of Moonlight, the young actors here are brilliant. The power though really comes in seeing them react or bounce off Taylor's performance, as she consumes the film, much in the way Mo'Nique did in Precious (2009).
Will Catlett (The Devil You Know and Charm City Kings) rounds out the cast as Lucky, the love interest for Inez and the father-figure for Terry. He was involved with Inez, prior to Terry's birth. They were separated due to their mutual incarceration. When he gets out of prison, he wants to be back involved with her. However, he didn't sign up to be a father to Terry. Lucky clearly loves Inez and he knows that Terry isn't his biological child. He also knows that Inez pulled Terry out of foster care without permission and illegally, so he has to choose if he'll make a family with them or not.
The narrative reminded me of two films in particular that were two of my favorites. It didn't remind me in a derivative way or in a way that didn't make this film stand out. The first half of Rockwell's narrative felt like Sam de Jong's Goldie (2020). The second half felt like George Tillman Jr.'s The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete (2013). All of them are gritty, New York City tales, told among those on the bottom rung, attempting to survive and climb above the poverty trappings or escape economic and racial inequities.
Ironically, de Jong's film and Tillman's are about people who lose their parental figures. This one is about a child gaining a parent, a child abandoned like the ones in de Jong and Tillman's stories. This film is almost in response to those aforementioned ones, which are about the failures of the social safety net, such that it is, as well as the Black community's distrust of that system. This film is about the Black community's desperation to rise above it at almost any cost, as well as the slim chances of success.
Rated R for language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 57 mins.
In theaters.
