Till
Composite Score: 82.23
Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison, Haley Bennett, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Patrick Thomas, Darian Rolle, Kevin Carroll, Tosin Cole, and Jayme Lawson
Director: Chinonye Chukwu
Writers: Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp, and Chinonye Chukwu
Genres: Biography, Drama, History
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic content involving racism, strong disturbing images, and racial slurs
Box Office: $10.97 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Till is the film based on the story of Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, and her contribution to the civil rights and anti-lynching movement in America after the murder of her son at the hands of white supremacists in Mississippi. The film stars Danielle Deadwyler in its central role and also features Jalyn Hall as Emmett Till, Frankie Faison as Mamie’s father John Carthan, and Whoopi Goldberg as Mamie’s mother Alma Carthan. Deadwyler’s performance as Mamie was touted by many as one of the best of 2022, drawing some outcry when she was snubbed for an Oscar nomination in favor of Ana de Armas for Blonde and Andrea Riseborough for To Leslie. The film should also be praised for its unflinching examination of racism in America (both historically and in the present) and its willingness to not give any credence to the false accusations brought against Emmett Till during the trial of his murderers.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
Till is an undeniably difficult watch because of its horrific subject matter. Director Chinonye Chukwu takes great care to not utilize racial violence as a spectacle, instead showing only Till’s broken body in the form that his mother did historically, but that does not make the content any less frustrating or upsetting. Obviously, images of a mutilated body can be difficult to look at, but those are part of history and connected to the film’s message, so they are not what makes the film difficult to watch. The difficulty comes from the facts of the film and the upsetting lack of progress in the seventy years since it occurred. Lynching was not a federal crime until March of 2022 in the U.S. due to continued hem-hawing and filibustering – first by racist southerners and more recently by right-wing politicians (Rand Paul specifically, but others as well). Till serves as a poignant reminder of just how far the U.S. has not come on issues of race. This makes the film difficult to watch because the people who will see the film already agree with and acknowledge its message while those who need to be convinced of its veracity will ignore it in favor of Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, and Joe Rogan content.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Till’s greatness comes down to one specific aspect – the performance of its leading lady Danielle Deadwyler. Her turn as Mamie Till-Mobley is on another level for the entirety of this film, increasing its emotional and practical impact as the audience watches her mourn and advocate for her son. From the first scene as she sits in the car with her son, worried about sending him to stay with relatives in Mississippi for a few weeks, she captures the audience’s attention. She never loses it, either, holding it as she works to find her son after his kidnapping, enthralling audiences with her mourning after she learns of his fate, and finally winning them all to her cause as she becomes an advocate for the civil rights movement, arguing on the stand for her son in a brilliant piece of courtroom drama – perhaps even exceeding Marisa Tomei’s Oscar-winning performance in My Cousin Vinny. It is a performance like few others and begs to be seen.
Danielle Deadwyler carries the burden of Till’s emotional and narrative weight on her shoulders as Mamie, keeping the audience fully engaged for the entirety of this poignant film, inviting them to contemplate the need for further progress on anti-racism in the modern day as they watch her historical story, making the film one of the Greatest of All Time. Its content might get it lost among some of the other films capitalizing on the need for deeper recognition of black history in a post-2020 world, but her performance and the undeniable nature of the film’s call for justice keeps it as a stand-out. This film is currently available to rent on most streaming services if you’d like to watch it.
