Watched Jan 2, 2025
It’s hard to put into words the feeling of finally seeing yourself in a film shaped like this. The below is an attempt and nothing more.
The use of perspective is what hooked me from the beginning. Paired with the choreography of the shots, in some ways this felt like the closest I’ve seen film get to capturing theater. And I wonder if viewpoints, in particular, were a creative resource for that.
I would normally say it’s problematic for a white audience to be forced into a perspective that positions them as the main character of a Black narrative, but I wonder if this film actually even does that. Is it actually that non-Black audiences are implicated as bystanders? In this sense, the film reminds me of Get Out, although the execution is far more visceral here.
This film feels academic, yet raw and unvarnished; studied, but not didactic. If anything, I think it’s far funnier in places than the audience I was in the theater with understood. I can imagine this will be syndicated for an incredibly long time, especially for educational purposes. Those purposes though, are related to both form and function. Specifically, for teaching both film and Black American history and contemporary culture.
I am so grateful a film like this exists. While I could have benefitted from it years ago, it’s just as healing and freeing to me now, which suggests the longevity it possesses is great.