The true story of Mamie Till Mobley’s relentless pursuit of justice for her 14 year old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi.
- Released:
- Runtime: 120 minutes
- Genre: Drama
- Stars: Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, Whoopi Goldberg, Frankie Faison, Haley Bennett, Jayme Lawson, Tosin Cole, Kevin Carroll, Sean Patrick Thomas, John Douglas Thompson, Roger Guenveur Smith, Princess Elmore, Josh Ventura, Ed Amatrudo, Gail Everett-Smith, Brendan Patrick Connor, Tim Ware, Keisha Tillis, Kevin Brown, Bradley King, J.P. Edwards, Jackson Beals, Summer Rain Menkee, Reid Jameson Smith, Mike Dolphy, Ralph Hughes, Ed Sturdivant, Rakeem Massingill, Al Mitchell, Lee Spencer, Njema Williams, Sean Michael Weber, Alyssa Talbot, Euseph Messiah, James Sanders III, Thea Clark, Jamie Renell, Friedman Twinkies, Jonathan D. Williams, Jaylin Webb, Eric Whitten, Diallo Thompson, Cora Maple Lindell, David Caprita, Elizabeth Youman, Charles T. Massey, Angela Yale, Phil Biedron, Carol J. Mckenith, Torey Adkins, Maurice Johnson, Noel Sampson, Brandon P. Bell, Oz Keenum, Destin Freeman, Bree Fyffe, Josh Mendez Sr., Marcus Atkins, Darian Rolle, Brennan Schram, Melina Datta, Blaine Huslig, Ryan Austin Bryant, Richard Nash
- Director: Chinonye Chukwu
Comments
- lucyrikly - 7 January 2023
Third Act Pacing Issues
Tl;dr First hour or so was extremely engaging but from when Mamie goes to Mississippi until the end I think the pacing took a real hit. If Mamie's activism later was given more attention in the third act, the film overall would have been all the better for it.
The opening scene of Emmett and Mamie singing in the car, the scene where Mamie goes to the station to pick up Emmett's crate and the scene where Mamie sees Emmett's body for the first time really stick in my mind for being so excellent from acting to camera work. The reveal of Emmett's body to the audience was so well crafted and impactful while being genuinely horrifying to look at. I appreciate that they did not show the audience the violence that Emmett suffered as so often happens in films focused on black suffering. It would be hard to justify showing it and actually, hearing it instead felt in many ways more devastating. Above all, the funeral sequence is one that I think I'll think about for quite a long time. Especially when the public are paying their respects walking past the coffin and a little boy buries his face in his dad/granddad's leg after he sees Emmett.
The court sequence, particularly when Carolyn is giving her testimony was so frustrating. Both because of what was happening in story and because of the pacing. I remember when I first heard about this case, I also heard the Carolyn had admitted to lying about the whole thing but that didn't come up as a title card at the end, so it must not have been true. But anyway, I think this is where they pace slowed down and the story overall wasn't as engaging. I think instead of a long drawn out court scene (where there isn't any tension because the outcome is already known to the viewer), it would have been better if her activism later on in life was given more attention in the third act. There was a very brief 'one month later' scene in New York and a screen card telling us she continued her activism, but that was all.
I think we can all agree that Danielle Deadwyler deserves recognition and accolade for her portrayal of Mamie. The majority of her big displays of anger, rage and grief landed, but I felt some of them pulled me out a bit. Really appreciated her small, natural gestures peppered throughout like how she would rub Emmett's watch when she talked about him. There wasn't a weak performance in the entire ensemble.
Really loved the look of the film overall.
