Film review: ‘TILL’, by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
While the film is set in 1955, the issues explored in the often-confronting civil rights drama Till resonate powerfully today. This is the true story of African American woman Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler) who sought justice for her 14-year-old son Emmett (Jalyn Hall) who was abducted and killed while visiting cousins In Mississippi.
The film begins in fairly sedate and familiar fashion as it takes us into Mamie and Emmett’s lives in Chicago, as they listen to music and dance and joke with each other. Mamie appears to be evidence of a slowly progressing America as she feels relatively safe in Chicago and as an air force office employee, is at the vanguard of black women’s inclusion into what were almost entirely white parts of the workforce. Her concerns about Emmett visiting Mississippi, where there had been a spate of racists attacks, are, however, palpable. Her fears are realised when she learns that, after innocently flirting with a white woman (Hayley Bennett), Emmett was taken from his cousins’ home by white men in the middle of the night and now his appallingly disfigured body has been found.
The latter half of the film, which includes the farcical trial, the result of which was determined by an all-white jury, is gripping and often emotionally gruelling. For the most part the film shifts effectively from the historical to the political to the personal capturing the febrile atmosphere of the time, the growing push for change by the NAACP who assist Mamie and Mamie’s devastation, fury and determination to hold to account those responsible for her son’s death.
This disturbing parallels with contemporary incidents such as the tragic killing of George Floyd are clear and the film uses language designed to prevent us from maintaining the comfortable distance of time and lapsing into the notion that we’re witnessing an artefact of history.
The film largely hinges on Danielle Deadwyler’s performance and she is terrific. Her agonising expressions of grief at her son’s death are deeply affecting and at times almost unbearable and the loss of the upbeat joyful side of her personality that we see early in the film is deeply sad. Her sudden change from political innocent to activist is a little abrupt, though and some depiction of the transition phase seems necessary but that’s a script issue rather than any criticism of Deadwyler’s performance. Hers is not the only indelible performance here, there’s wonderfully moving and convincing efforts from the supporting cast, particularly John Douglas Thompson as Emmet’s uncle Moses ‘Preacher’ Wright and Whoopi Goldberg as Mamie’s mother Alma.
Some historical biopic cliches (such as the use of overwrought music) weave their way into this film slightly diluting the impact of its powerful and taut drama. Also, the film seems to end a little abruptly and rely on screen text to reveal other aspects of the Mamie’s life. Thankfully, these missteps don’t detract too much from this important film’s overall impact.
Nick’s rating: ***1/2
Genre: Drama/ Biopic.
Classification: M.
Director(s): Chinonye Chukwu.
Release date: 9th Mar 2023..
Running time: 130 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM and every Wednesday morning (7:30am) on 94.1 WBC FM.