kevinyang’s review published on Letterboxd:
It’s a very interesting premise delivered by very capable performers, but this is another example of a premise stretched thin when converted from play to screenplay. I like everything the film explores as ideas - most notably performative black masculinity and the ways in which it is shaped by white anxieties and biases. However, the film slowly but surely loses control of the plot until it’s spinning in place, with nothing new or interesting added to the story beyond superficially tense confrontations. It therefore ends in a place that is more muddled than purposefully ambiguous or provocative. I’m also not a fan of its treatment of mental illness, which comes across as dismissive and driven by shock value. Overall the film has plenty of great moments, but it can’t get beyond its own trappings on the whole.
GRADE: B-
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