This was a fantastic standout and feature directorial debut for Dee Rees, of an intimate drama about a Black lesbian teen named Alike (Adepero Oduye) struggling between being closeted to her traditional parents and being her free self among friends, and exploring her identity, her sexuality, and struggling with her relationship to her conservative-minded mother.
I really liked how the film was often about Alike struggling with her duality of roles in her life, of appearing more traditional straight female among her family and shedding that to be her natural lesbian self outside of the home, and trying to understand her sexuality with like-minded girls, with mixed results and confusion.
This film kicked off Rees’ successful career as a director, with Bessie and Mudbound to follow. And while I do wish Oduye became a bigger star after this film, it was a joy to watch her in a short film in which she played Nina Simone, a role she should rightfully play in a major biopic.
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