At the moment of Myeisha’s death at the hands of police, she guides us inside her mind and muses over the life she will be leaving behind, told through hip-hop, spoken word poetry, and dance. Inspired by the 1998 police shooting of California teen Tyisha Miller.
In Saudi Arabia, a little girl (Wadjda) is told she can't have a bike because she's a girl. Wadjda struggles to obtain a bicycle to race her friend, Abdullah, due to the gender inequality and cultural norms of Saudi Arabia.
A complex, realistic, and loving mother-daughter relationship is at the heart of this story about Black pageants and the fight for a better future.
The fun tricks used in the production design and lighting read extremely well on-screen but hardly fulfill their purpose of trying to inject glamour into a lack-luster story with nothing to say.
Halle's belting, crystal clear notes, and warm tone infused something into this blockbuster that I thoroughly enjoy.
There were too many irrelevant parts that could have been shortened, and too many characters that didn't advance the plot. Either way, some things didn't add up. This was just another played out plot with little, if any, originality in it. By the end of the film, I wasn't happy that she finally got her freedom, I was happy that it was finally over.
