Till - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

The tragic story of Mamie Till and her fourteen year old son Emmet are things that most young American children are taught about in high school, at least at some point. Their story is powerful, heartbreaking and blindingly infuriating. Maybe I was absent or wasn’t paying attention on the day we covered these events in history class, or perhaps I’ve just forgotten, but as I watched the new movie Till, I was absolutely astounded at the tragic events as they unfolded. The harrowing portrayal of a fourteen year old boy traveling from Chicago to Mississippi to visit family in 1955, only to cat call a twenty-one year old white woman which provoked members of her family to kidnap and lynch the young child. Till follows the tragedy and subsequent events from the perspective of Mamie played by the amazing Danielle Deadwyler, she made my top five favorite performances by an Actress of 2022. Given the current state of affairs in regards racism in the United States, like the murder of George Floyd and so many others, this film feels as culturaly relevant as ever. If you know the story, this excellent film may not have as much of an impact as it did for me, but for those like myself that have forgotten this story or many of the details, Till absolutely hits like a hammer and currently sits in my top ten films of the year.

SYNOPSIS - This dive into the history books starts with The Moonglows crooning out their Billboard number one R&B song from 1955, Sincerely. We then get a camera view as if we’re inside the radio of a 1950’s automobile, singing out the slow and melodious tune to the vehicle’s driver, Mamie Till (Danielle Deadwyler), as she lip sings along with Marvin Gaye and company. Her son Emmet (Jalyn Hall) is in the passenger seat and leans over to join in the lip syncing harmony, large smiles lighting up both their faces. But as the song lingers on, the smile fades from Mamie’s face, the song fades into the background momentarily as some eerie violin playing creeps in, it’s almost as if she’s been given an ominous premonition of what lies in store for her. But as they get out of the car, some on screen text lets us know we’ve been transported back to August, 1955 and we’re in Chicago, Illinois. The pair are doing some shopping and as Mamie walks through the store a man stops her and asks to help, but as she is holding a shoe box, the man suggests they also have shoes for sale in the basement. “Do your other customers know that too?”, she coldly replies. They arrive home for the shopping spree after dark and after joyfully singing along to a commercial on TV, Emmet gives his grandma Alma (Whoopi Goldberg) a hug and heads off to bed as tomorrow he’s going to visit some of his relatives.

As young Emmet is getting ready to leave the following morning, he slips on his brown dress shoes, buttons his shirt, puts a few dollars into a new billfold and we see a photo of a pretty young white actress secured behind a plastic holder inside. His mother comes in with his necktie and the camera spins around them as they dance for a few moments to the music playing in the background. But she sits down on the bed and soberly reminds her son that he has to be more careful around white people in the south, there are different rules he need to be mindful of. He says he knows, but makes some silly jokes and his happy-go-lucky demeanor reminds us that despite him mentally understanding what he’s heading into, he’s still very much a boy at heart. He boards a train heading towards Mississippi and as it begins to blur in the distance, his mother’s worried expression and nervous audible inhale are the last things we see before the screen goes black and the film's title in white strikes out from the dark. Some soft piano plays in the background as Emmet stares out the train window, moments before the train conductor taps on his shoulder to inform him it’s time to move and a procession of black individuals head to the back of the train. After some sequences of Emmet working with his extended family picking cotton, they stop at a general store and after going inside to get some gumballs, he remarks to the store clerk Carolyn (Haley Bennett), that she looks like a movie star. After being ushered from the store by a relative, Carolyn follows him to the door and Emmet turns and innocently whistles at her from the road, but everyone around stands frozen and some high tempo violin music raises in the background, as if a scene from a horror movie is about to erupt onscreen.

A horror movie of sorts is exactly what plays out. But the discussion of this horror film cannot begin any other place than with the exceptional and devastating performance from Danielle Deadwyler. This performance was one of the most powerful and also emotionally straining things I watched in the entire year of 2022. As her portrayal of young Emmet’s mother Mamie, Deadwyler’s performance is absolutely soul crushing as she navigates the aftermath of her son’s murder at the hands of racism and extreme prejudice. The entirety of the cast is excellent as well, from the young Jalyn Hall to the familiar Haley Bennett, whose portrayal of a heartless white woman made my blood absolutely boil like hot lava. While this film is certainly above average in many respects, from its direction by Chinonye Chukwu to it’s original score and cinematography, it certainly won’t be among critic’s favorites of the year. The film’s original song by Jazmine Sullivan, Stand Up, was partially effective, but as typical we don’t get to hear it until we’re left reeling from the ending text before the credits start to roll. But I did also find the period piece dresses and costumes to be of excellent quality and noteworthy. On the whole the film is to be celebrated, not only for the wonderful work from Deadwyler, but for bringing a story and topic to light that should be studied and watched in high schools for young people growing up for years to come. As a father of two, I look at films like this through the lens of scrutinizing our mistakes as a society so we can teach our children a better way, to make this land of the free a better place to live, for everyone.

SUMMARY - While film critics and cinephiles will rejoice in the performances of the film, general audiences and the public can be almost as equally drawn into this real life event portrayal. Although the film runs just a bit over two hours, it won’t be long until Till gets in you and slowly breaks your heart into a million pieces.