Official Website Plot Summary: Traces the journey of a suburban family - led by a well-intentioned but domineering father - as they navigate love, forgiveness, and coming together in the aftermath of a loss. Director: Trey Edward Shults Writer: Trey Edward Shults Runtime: 2 hour 15 min Main Cast:

• Taylor Russell as Emily
• Kelvin Harrison Jr as Tyler
• Alexa Demie as Alexis
• Bill Wise as Coach Wise
• Sterling K Brown as Ronald

Review by: Heidi

I had no idea what this movie was. All I knew was that it was drama centered around a family and Sterling K. Brown was the father. And I like This Is Us so I was all for it. None of the descriptions really gave more into the storyline than that.

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Alright, let’s get into it. So without giving up the entire story but also trying to give more description that what I read…Essentially it’s the story of an already broken family that is broken further due to the pressure of societal and parental standards. Sterling K. Brown pushes his son because he wants him to understand that he needs to be better than the best to make up for him being African American, he just has to work harder. This pressure from his father causes the son to hide his shortcomings and bottle up all that he is struggling with. And eventually the bottle explodes, and we get to follow the effects of this and the process of trying to put together the pieces.

 

What I Liked:

The conversation that this movie forces into the light is a very important and deep topic. There is a huge misunderstanding between older and younger generations. One that is so strong it keeps children from feeling comfortable about talking to their parents and grandparents. It keeps them from being able to get the help that they need that could potentially save them from making terrible mistakes that ruin their future. At the same time it shows the importance of what happens when you ignore people in your family because you’re so overwhelmed with another member. The movie had a really good message that is extremely important for parents and children to hear and understand. Also the actors did an amazing job.

What I Didn’t Like:

However! To me the story wasn’t very believable….. I mean it was dramatic. It could’ve happened but I don’t see it occurring the same way it does in this movie. My second “issue” was that the movie seemed so long. I felt like I watched a whole movie centered around the son, and then a whole second movie centered around the daughter. The film was beautiful, the video shots were amazing. I understand they two stories were set at different periods in time, but still I feel as though I would’ve preferred them to run in parallel. Or for the second half to be shortened severely. There were things in the daughters story that I felt didn’t add any value to the theme/message of the film in its entirety.

Images Courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes