It still amazes me that films can still give us true stories that in some regions are integral parts of their history. But for others, you have no prior knowledge to it.
This is a moment where I am most definitely the latter. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what to expect from this new release.
I saw a solid amount of buzz and it was getting a big release. Naturally, when you see something like this come out at this time of year, it usually means awards buzz. In one particular aspect, that is true.
Considering how this films ends up, it's surprisingly bright and cheerful to begin with. The 50's setting, the bright colour palette and costumes and general happy nature of the characters gives it a pleasant beginning. But as the threat looms, there's not much joy to be had after that.
When it turns into something a bit more brutal and hard to watch, I noticed that the film seemed to be treating the story with a surprising amount of respect for both sides. It gives a fair representation of the events and focuses more on the emotion from the people effected by it instead.
People in America are probably aware of this story due to how the news coverage was portrayed in the film. But for outsiders like me, this was something new. It was hard to watch at times. But the compelling execution of the story keeps you wanting to know more.
That is thanks to the cast, who do a pretty good job on the whole. But in all honesty, the film belongs to Danielle Deadwyler, who gives a star-making performance. There are several scenes where she takes full control of it and you can't help but be emotionally moved by it. You just get this sudden drive for her to fully succeed and it deserves some recognition during the awards season.
Jalyn Hall shows great natural innocence that makes him instantly likable and Haley Bennett reminds us how good she is as she made great use of her short screen-time.
Also, Whoopi Goldberg is in this apparently and I had no idea she was. So fair play to the makeup department for making me not realise she was part of this project.
I like how it handled the story and it just told it like it is rather being heavily biased to one side. The content speaks for itself and sometimes that's all you need to sell the film.
But while this covers important subjects, you can't ignore the drawbacks and like with any film and it has some issues. There were some sequences that felt prolonged that slowed the pace down a bit. It also contains a few of those conventional biopic tropes which they got away with as it never downgraded my overall view.
In terms of the technical aspects, you don't really see anything challenging or daring. So instead, the film-makers are basically using the strength of the story. Thankfully, I felt it was enough of a compelling watch for me to overlook those minor problems.
The content is difficult to be comfortable with. Not because of the brutal actions, but the emotional after-effects of the incident this film is focusing on. If you feel mad after watching this, then it has worked for you. Deadwyler is great in this and is worth the admission ticket price alone.
It's based on a true story and I had no prior knowledge of this whatsoever. So it was obviously shocking to see that this actually happened and I know I won't be the only one effected by this.
Rating: 7/10
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