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It feels weird to be posting a banal review item given what day it is and all that's going on, but last night at Rosh Hashanah dinner, Thing 2 asked if anyone wanted to watch a movie. Thing 1 of course said no and Pygment passed so Thing 2 and I went browsing through NFLX and happened upon this purely by accident.
My definition for a good science fiction story is one that could not have been told without its SFnal elements. GATTACA and Arrival are prime examples. Unfortunately, Hollywood equates "SF" with, generally, space ships/explosions/horror and while there are good examples of each type it's not what I think a great SF movie should be.
See You Yesterday (5/5 stars) fits this bill exactly. It's the story of two teenage science prodigies who use their time-travel devices to try and stop a killing. It's mostly a story about being Black in America and how kids' hopes, desires, and dreams interact in that reality. At its core the story is about learning that actions have consequences. Without the SFnal elements of the time machines you couldn't tell this story, and it is superbly told. Fredrica Bailey and Stefon Bristol's script is moving and tight and feels entirely authentic to me.
That itself is a whole thing - how does a film written by two Black writers, starring an all-Black cast speak to a non-Black viewer? In this case, superbly. But I acknowledge I'm judging this from the outside.
The acting star of this movie is Eden Duncan-Smith, here in her first major film role after working for years on Broadway. It's a thrill to watch her fill out the character of CJ. She gets good support from the rest of the cast, notably from Astro (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4702342/?ref_=tt_cl_t3) who plays CJ's older brother. Astro hangs in the balance between living his own authentic life, and living the obligations he feels as the man of the house since their father's death.
CJ's partner in adventure is Sebastian Thomas (played by Danté Crichlow). He's good enough and I particularly like that the film allows these two to be close, even loving, best friends without introducing any sexual elements. Sometimes a film is good not only for what it does, but for what it does not do, and "See You Yesterday" takes care to tell a sparing story without a lot of extraneous distractions thrown in.
Do not miss this film.
My definition for a good science fiction story is one that could not have been told without its SFnal elements. GATTACA and Arrival are prime examples. Unfortunately, Hollywood equates "SF" with, generally, space ships/explosions/horror and while there are good examples of each type it's not what I think a great SF movie should be.
See You Yesterday (5/5 stars) fits this bill exactly. It's the story of two teenage science prodigies who use their time-travel devices to try and stop a killing. It's mostly a story about being Black in America and how kids' hopes, desires, and dreams interact in that reality. At its core the story is about learning that actions have consequences. Without the SFnal elements of the time machines you couldn't tell this story, and it is superbly told. Fredrica Bailey and Stefon Bristol's script is moving and tight and feels entirely authentic to me.
That itself is a whole thing - how does a film written by two Black writers, starring an all-Black cast speak to a non-Black viewer? In this case, superbly. But I acknowledge I'm judging this from the outside.
The acting star of this movie is Eden Duncan-Smith, here in her first major film role after working for years on Broadway. It's a thrill to watch her fill out the character of CJ. She gets good support from the rest of the cast, notably from Astro (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4702342/?ref_=tt_cl_t3) who plays CJ's older brother. Astro hangs in the balance between living his own authentic life, and living the obligations he feels as the man of the house since their father's death.
CJ's partner in adventure is Sebastian Thomas (played by Danté Crichlow). He's good enough and I particularly like that the film allows these two to be close, even loving, best friends without introducing any sexual elements. Sometimes a film is good not only for what it does, but for what it does not do, and "See You Yesterday" takes care to tell a sparing story without a lot of extraneous distractions thrown in.
Do not miss this film.
