In a post-apocalyptic future mankind is lives in a prehistoric manner. After killing his father for sexually assaulting his girlfriend, the son of a tribal leader runs away with a group of his teenage friends. They are taken in by Neil and Judith who introduce them to the vices outlawed by their tribes namely sex and drugs.Neil and Judith, however, are genetically altered indestructible mutants who have their own plans for the future of the human race.
At first glance, Black as Night is a strange title choice for a film about vampirism in post-Katrina New Orleans. However, the title alludes to the world's anti-black and colorist messages.
The biggest highlight of the film is easily the performance of Andrew Garfield. In his days since hanging up his Spiderman suit, Garfield has routinely churned out great performances, and Mainstream is no exception. He proves that he is willing to try anything and go anywhere in a character.
Battles will come and go and queer people do die for their identity and fights for rights, but that doesn’t mean the gays don’t deserve their happy endings in stories.
On top of the phenomenal acting, and great dialogue between the two characters, the cinematography was ravishing! The sound was outstanding! The production design was simple, yet intrinsic. The minimalistic approach in the Malibu beach house represented how little they really have going on in their relationship. The storyline may have been much simpler than "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf," but all the more insightful, and much more animalistic at its core.
Intergenerational friendships and community can be so powerful, and this was a great example.
Seeing that the film was essentially his first big, mainstream feature, and with garnering a leading role — portraying the revolutionary ball-player Jackie Robinson — Boseman, without question, delivered a performance that is still so incredibly moving, respectful, genuine, and true to the core of his obviously sincere, artistic heart; and with that, it is indeed so saddening to see him pass.
