Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Beats’ on Netflix, a Hopeful Hip-Hop Movie Set on Chicago’s Troubled South Side

The Netflix Original film Beats sells itself as “the ultimate ode to Chicago’s South Side,” and works hard to back up that claim. The movie shot on location, in star Khalil Everage’s neighborhood; it also earnestly addresses the devastating effects of gang violence, and strives to tell a story that’s hopeful in the face of harsh realities.

BEATS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: August Monroe (Everage) is traumatized. In the film’s opening moments, a gangbanger guns down his sister, point blank, on the South Side streets, directly in front of him, because he urinated on a wall tagged by a rival gang. The bullet passes through her head and lodges in his chest. Eighteen months later, August is sequestered in the cramped apartment where he lives with his mother, Carla (Uzo Aduba). All day, he sits in front of his sampler and keyboard, crafting hip-hop beats and hooks, like he did with his sister. The rest of the world drops away while he works.

Romelo Reese (Anthony Anderson, also an executive producer) is a security guard at the high school August would attend if he didn’t suffer from debilitating panic attacks. Romelo’s estranged wife, Vanessa (Emayatzy Corinealdi), a school administrator, asks him to play truant, and track down no-shows. He knocks on August’s door, and hears the beats through the walls, stirring memories of his former life as a music producer and manager. He knows talent when he hears it. August is clearly gifted.

Ever persistent, Romelo gets outside August’s window, then in the apartment and, as these things go, inside the kid’s head and heart. It’s a precarious situation, though. Carla is understandably overprotective, and terrified of what may happen if her son even leaves the house. She shelters him, shooing everyone away. So Romelo and August hammer out beats behind her back, while she’s at work. Although he’s earnest in his intent, and believes music is a therapeutic path for August, Romelo also has issues to work out. As he shops the kid’s beats to his old contacts, the screenplay teases out the events of Romelo’s past — he lived the high life once, but has since been greatly humbled. Secrets like this can’t be kept indefinitely, of course, and when they’re revealed, there will be lessons to learn about healing, forgiveness and love.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Beats adapts the 8 Mile or Get Rich or Die Tryin’ formula for its Chicago setting. Director Chris Robinson folds in elements of his 2006 feature ATL. And considering Chicago is to the present day what Compton was to the late 1980s and early ’90s, it’s hard not to draw comparison to Boyz n the Hood and Straight Outta Compton.

Performance Worth Watching: Anderson is the movie’s anchor. His approach to Romelo makes the character feel lived-in and authentic. He’s breezy, but substantive; he’s sometimes effortlessly funny, and is understated during heavier dramatic moments, keeping the movie from deviating into overwrought melodrama.

Memorable Dialogue: “He got that PSTD,” one August’s classmates says about him — and her mispronunciation speaks volumes on misperceptions and misunderstandings about the condition.

Single Best Shot: August loses himself in the music, the moment, and all that.

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: When movie characters keep significant plot points from each other for two acts, the narrative dam must burst in the final third, or else. And that third act is either over- or underwritten, cramming in a lot of plot at the expense of coherence. It’s hard to tell if characters are reacting emotionally and irrationally because they’re flawed humans, or if they’re just mechanisms pushing the story forward.

However, Beats is a classic case of extraordinary acting saving a movie from its script issues and boilerplate story beats. It’s chock-full of extraordinary ensemble work: Everage and Anderson enjoy substantial chemistry, and Aduba and Corinealdi show conviction and commitment in key supporting roles. Ashley Jackson is also strong in a handful of scenes, playing August’s romantic interest. The cast works together with great earnestness, resulting in numerous dramatically affecting moments.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The movie’s good intentions outweigh its flaws. It works diligently to keep hope alive on Chicago’s South Side.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream Beats (2019) on Netflix