Till

It's amazing how we, as a society, have to showcase films in order to teach us something that we should already know: that we should love and respect each other as we love and respect ourselves. I know, it's the 'golden rule', but it packs such a wallop, especially after seeing a sobering film as "Till". 

This is a profoundly emotional, and cinematic film about the true story of Mamie Till Mobley's (Danielle Deadwyler) relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett 'Bo' Till (Jalyn Hall), who, in August of 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi from Chicago. In Mamie's poignant journey of grief turned to action, we see the universal power of a mother's ability to change the world. Others to assist her in her quest was Medger Evers (Tosin Cole), Rayfield Mooty (Kevin Carroll) of NAACP, and her husband, Gene (Sean Patrick Thomas). 

Others to round out the cast are Frankie Faison as John Carthan, Haley Bennett as Carolyn Bryant, Whoopi Goldberg as Alma Carthan, John's wife, Jayme Lawson as Myrlie Evers, Medger's wife, John Douglas Thompson as Moses Wright and Roger Guenveur Smith as Dr. T.R.M. Howard. 

This was rivetingly directed by Chinonye Chukwu ("alaskaLand" '12, "Clemency" '19) plus TV and shorts. Considering the limited experience behind the camera, I was mesmerized by this filmmaker to be able to connect so well with Deadwyler in order to get her to emit the emotions she was able to extract to convince the audience that she was this distraught about losing her son at such an early age. She will continue to go far in her ability to direct quality films. It was incredibly well crafted by writers Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp and Chinonye Chukwu. What amazes me even more is that two of the three writers here have no other than this film to their credit for feature films (Reilly and Beauchamp)< and Chukwu doesn't have a plethora of experience as well. This tells me two things: either they're all naturals or maybe a good day at at the laptop--not sure, but suffice it to say, this was a dynamite script. The sequence of scenes were seamless and the continuity was spot on. It was a 130 minute running time and it didn't seem, at all, like it, because it was incredibly cohesive, paced and staged. These writers, director and Deadwyler will undoubtedly receive Oscar nods come that time. 

It you're into message-laden films, this is the ticket for you, but even if you're not, the quality directing, writing and acting will woo you into purchasing a ticket. One lesson to learn from this? A mother's love can't be fought against, can't be bought, and should never be toyed with lest you receive the wrath of her. 

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                          Rated: PG-13                                             130mins.