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The Book of Clarence
(2023)
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Brooke Obie
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The Book of Clarence, incorporates ideas from some of the most iconic cinematic biblical sagas but fails to execute them into a cohesive, effective Black Jesus sociopolitical comedy.
Posted Jan 12, 2024
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The Color Purple
(2023)
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Brooke Obie
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Bazawule’s The Color Purple is another misadaptation of Walker’s work — the unfollowed blueprint that’s still, embarrassingly, ahead of its time, 40 years later.
Posted Dec 19, 2023
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Silver Dollar Road
(2023)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck has a knack for making unconventional documentaries that pull no punches.
Posted Sep 14, 2023
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Nanny
(2022)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Director Nikyatu Jusu’s haunting tale of immigrant sacrifice engulfs and beguiles.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
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Emancipation
(2022)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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The hollow Emancipation is a mismatch between director and subject.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
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The Woman King
(2022)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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With its epic tale of the solidarity that grows between the Dahomey as they battle against enslavement and exploitation, The Woman King illustrates, with stunning grace, how sisterhood can be more than dangerous and powerful.
Posted Sep 13, 2022
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Nope
(2022)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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With the release of his third feature, Nope, Jordan Peele has solidified his reputation for making ambitious, interesting thrillers that mystify enormous audiences.
Posted Aug 05, 2022
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The Batman
(2022)
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David Dennis Jr.
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The Batman is the best, most accurate and complex representation of the Caped Crusader we’ve seen on film...but its take on policing fails to grapple with these complicated issues...
Posted Mar 16, 2022
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National Champions
(2021)
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Jesse Washington
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National Champions highlights growing cracks in the college football system.
Posted Jan 11, 2022
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Don't Try to Understand a Woman
(2009)
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David Dennis Jr.
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It's these moments that remind us of the rawness that captivated fans more than 20 years ago. It's a reminder of why I hung on every word DMX barked...
Posted Nov 24, 2021
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King Richard
(2021)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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King Richard has a Will Smith problem. It is obviously meant to be award catnip for Smith and a cinematic crowning for Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena. And yet Smith's starring role may be the weakest part of the film.
Posted Nov 24, 2021
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Passing
(2021)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Ruth Negga shines in Rebecca Hall's adaptation of the Nella Larsen novel.
Posted Nov 12, 2021
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Tina
(2021)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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What stands out about Tina is that it takes her seriously as an artist, which remains an uphill battle for women in rock music.
Posted Mar 29, 2021
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The United States vs. Billie Holiday
(2021)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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The biggest flaw of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, besides its commitment to substituting shocking violence for character development, is that it cannot decide how its leading lady sees herself.
Posted Mar 09, 2021
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MLK/FBI
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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While MLK/FBI is expansive and humane, it leaves room for a deeper and more concentrated look at Coretta Scott King as an individual who faced her own enormous challenges as a public figure.
Posted Mar 09, 2021
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Malcolm & Marie
(2021)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Malcolm & Marie doesn't accomplish much besides telling on its progenitor.
Posted Mar 09, 2021
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Judas and the Black Messiah
(2021)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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King has pulled off the near-impossible, taking a story of an anticapitalist civil rights martyr who we know will have a tragic, bloody end, and approaching it with daring and confidence.
Posted Mar 09, 2021
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Antebellum
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Antebellum sprinkles its under-considered plot with elements that recur but are never explained... Meanwhile, the more difficult questions behind Antebellum's world-building choices go unaddressed.
Posted Jan 20, 2021
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Time
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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[Director Garrett] Bradley's mastering of craft is evident in all the ways she strays from convention.
Posted Jan 20, 2021
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The Forty-Year-Old Version
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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The Forty-Year-Old Version offers a refreshing, unpretentious and often hilarious take on middle-aged Black womanhood.
Posted Jan 20, 2021
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Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Each of the actors rises to the occasion in this production, riding a wave of heat crafted by screenwriter and Wilson whisperer Ruben Santiago-Hudson.
Posted Jan 20, 2021
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The Old Guard
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Given a team of highly regarded actors in Charlize Theron, Chiwetel Ejiofor and KiKi Layne, Prince-Bythewood delivers both satisfying, high-octane fights and a proper storyline to stitch them together.
Posted Jan 20, 2021
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Miss Juneteenth
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Through her round-the-way-girl protagonist, Peoples reminds Turquoise and all of us that there's more than one way to get free.
Posted Jun 22, 2020
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Da 5 Bloods
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Da 5 Bloods [is] Spike Lee's sprawling, ambitious, vital and fiery entry into the Vietnam War film canon.
Posted Jun 12, 2020
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The High Note
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Ross is an actress who consistently punches above the weight class of the material she's given. And yet in the biggest moment of her film career to date, it's obvious that she deserves more, too.
Posted Jun 01, 2020
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Becoming
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Becoming more or less offers Obama fanservice... But it's most interesting in the rare moments when Obama speaks candidly about topics that had been verboten, or at least strongly discouraged.
Posted May 07, 2020
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The Photograph
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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A dithering, unshakable ambivalence dooms The Photograph, which might be the most distilled example of the deficiencies in Meghie's work as a writer/director.
Posted Feb 14, 2020
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Like a Boss
(2020)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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But no amount of concealer can hide the plot holes or general laziness that tanks Like a Boss, and it is exactly those inadequacies that have consigned it to Dump Month.
Posted Jan 10, 2020
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Uncut Gems
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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The magic trick of the Safdies is that even when they plunge you into the dyspeptic, spleeny, cyclical hell of Howard's own making, they manage to make you root for him anyway.
Posted Dec 13, 2019
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Queen & Slim
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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The director's confident patience guides the pacing of Queen & Slim, allowing both the film and the relationship between its titular characters to unfold organically, even as the stakes of the picture are established within its first 15 minutes.
Posted Dec 03, 2019
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Harriet
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Harriet is so consumed with reverence for the patron saint of Black History Month that it neglects to make her, or any of the supporting characters around her, a real person.
Posted Nov 01, 2019
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Dolemite Is My Name
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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What a relief to see something so nakedly committed to entertaining its audience, and which made the case for doing so with such passion.
Posted Sep 16, 2019
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Our Lady of the Nile
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Director Atiq Rahimi has once again created a beautiful and disturbing work of cinema.
Posted Sep 16, 2019
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Sweetness in the Belly
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Sweetness in the Belly has its moments of grace... But for a complicated story set during even more complicated times, Sweetness in the Belly just feels altogether too simple.
Posted Sep 16, 2019
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Just Mercy
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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It's a new twist on the old formula of Yankee lawyers who come to the South and find a wall of community resistance to racial equality and injustice, but it's a powerful one.
Posted Sep 13, 2019
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Clemency
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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[Clemency] continue the work of highlighting racial inequality in the justice system.
Posted Sep 13, 2019
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Lucas Brothers: On Drugs
(2017)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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It's sharp, smart, insightful and hilarious.
Posted Jul 16, 2019
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Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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[Toni] Morrison remains an inspiration for many reasons, but especially because she believed in her own talents long before the institutional arbiters of such things caught on to them.
Posted Jul 15, 2019
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The Last Black Man in San Francisco
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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The Last Black Man in San Francisco is an exquisite dirge for the loss of a city, of home, of community. But most of all, it mourns the loss of possibility, and for some that load is just too heavy to bear.
Posted Jun 07, 2019
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See You Yesterday
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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No matter the inspired cinematography or considered, authentic performances, these stories carry a weight of inevitability as they suck every particle of hope out of the air.
Posted May 18, 2019
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The Sun Is Also a Star
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Shahidi and Melton are charming and utterly watchable together. They're both absurdly attractive and skilled actors, but whatever magic exists between them is limited by Tracy Oliver's script.
Posted May 17, 2019
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Fast Color
(2018)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Fast Color is an exceptional, poetic ride that cries out for further exploration.
Posted Apr 27, 2019
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Native Son
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Nearly 80 years after Native Son was first published, we're still searching for answers.
Posted Apr 11, 2019
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Us
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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As social commentary, it's not as razor-sharp as Get Out. But it still feels like an exceptional accomplishment, mainly because Peele created a role that is a worthy showcase of Nyong'o's talent.
Posted Mar 22, 2019
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Jump Shot: The Kenny Sailors Story
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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With archival footage from college basketball games in the 1940s and pro ball in the 1950s, Hamilton illustrates how much Sailors seemed like a time traveler from the future.
Posted Mar 13, 2019
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High Flying Bird
(2019)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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To avoid spoilers, I'll hold my tongue on the rest of High Flying Bird's deliciously crafty plot.
Posted Feb 08, 2019
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If Beale Street Could Talk
(2018)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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In his adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk, Jenkins has fully established himself as one of American cinema's finest architects of intimacy.
Posted Dec 14, 2018
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Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland
(2018)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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More than anything, the value in Say Her Name lies in its refusal to allow Bland to be silenced, even in death.
Posted Dec 06, 2018
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Widows
(2018)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Widows is filled with wild beauty, heart-thumping grotesquerie and even some good ol' soapy treachery.
Posted Nov 16, 2018
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Jinn
(2018)
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Soraya Nadia McDonald
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Jinn quivers with joy and uncertainty, confidence and shame, delivering exactly what makes independent cinema exciting: a bright new voice with a bold vision.
Posted Nov 16, 2018
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