Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Writer-Director A.V. Rockwell delivers an exceptional story of family and parenthood.
We start off in New York City in 1994. Free-spirited and loyal Inez (Teyana Taylor) has just been released from prison. With a beeper clipped to her waist, she’s doing hair to make some money. When she sees her six-year-old son Terry (a mesmerizing Aaron Kingsley Adetola) across the street, she decides to kidnap him from the foster care system. Together they travel around the city, making it to Harlem, where they set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity and stability in a rapidly gentrifying New York City.
As much as this story is about Inez and Terry, it’s also about New York City. The city is so integral to the story that Rockwell made it a character. The Filmmaker picks three timeframes to focus on his characters: 1994, 2001 and 2005. ’94 had Mayor Rudy Giuliani campaign on his ‘tough on crime’ platform. In ’01 Mayor Michael Bloomberg implemented stop-and-frisks. And in ’05 gentrification bulldozed through marginalized communities. Each year we stop, we understand how those in power created a harsher life for Inez and Terry, and in turn their community. This harshness is captured by Rockwell and Director of Photography Eric K. Yue through the beautiful grainy Cinematography.
By ’01, it appears the systems’ stopped looking for Terry. He and Inez have successfully built a life together, along with Inez’s now husband Lucky (an impactful William Cateltt) who made a positive impact on Terry’s life. The three have fallen into a typical familial life, however, it remains under constant threat. Terry (played at age 13 by an outstanding Aven Courtney) gets stop-and-frisked worrying Inez that his forged papers will be uncovered. In ’05 Terry (played at age 17 by a strong Josiah Cross) has reached his moody, romantic teenhood and is applying for colleges. At the cusp of adulthood, it appears these two have made it. Yet, this is when Inez might not be able to outrun her past and secrets.
Everything that happens in A Thousand and One is anchored by the glass-shattering debut from former Singer and Choreographer Taylor. She gives a raw performance as the experienced-hardened mother.Rockwell has written a character that’s relatable due to how unapologetically flawed she is. His collaboration with Taylor enhances this as she isn’t afraid to get into the gritty parts of her Inez. She shows us her cruel side right alongside her nurturing one. It’s a performance of a lifetime.
Rockwell has written a beautiful, arresting film with deeply nuanced characters. He’s placed them in a setting and time period that echo each other. Inez and Terry are on the run from a broken system that has in turn created, in Inez’s terms, broken people. However, she’s doing everything she can to break the cycle and in turn, give Terry a better life. Their poignant yet uplifting story is masterfully captured in the all-consuming Score by Gary Gunnthat’s one for the books.
There’s a small collection of films that have affected audiences so deeply that we are changed after viewing them. A Thousand and One is part of that collection. There’s a before and after seeing it. You leave the theatre with expanded compassion and empathy for humanity, along with a transformed perception of what classifies a family and a parent.
Focus Features release A THOUSAND AND ONE on Friday, March 31, 2023.
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