Miss Juneteenth

"Miss Juneteenth" has its heart in the right place, and I want nothing more than to be able to unequivocally recommend a movie directed by a black woman about the black experience in America. But the film can't shed an amateurish quality that prevents it from hitting its marks.

I fault the screenplay mostly, which is also the work of the film's director, Channing Godfrey Peoples. It spends a good 90% of its time depicting the life of a struggling mostly single mother (the father is in the picture, but not reliably) and her teenage daughter as a joyless grind, only to switch gears in the movie's last ten minutes to land on a happy ending in which all dramatic conflicts are resolved and everything's tied up with a nifty bow. The ending doesn't feel earned, since the screenplay doesn't adequately set it up, and the whole thing hits the viewer as being disingenuous. I appreciated the film's resistance to wallowing in a misery porn aesthetic, but I think it could have landed somewhere between despair and the Hallmark movie "everyone gets what she wants" ending that it gives us.

As a consolation for the film's weak script, it features a lovely performance by Nicole Beharie as the mom whose determination to give her daughter what she missed out on blinds her to what her daughter actually wants.

Grade: B

This is just a good, solid character-based story that delivers. The pacing is perfect for this type of narrative, the characters were well developed and realistic, the dialogue spot on. Throw in the true-to-life BBQ pit and it's the right mix to make a good film.

Nicole Beharie shines as an African American mother who wants her teenage duaghter ("Chikaeze") to win the Miss Juneteenth pageant and take advantage of the opportunities she was not able to seize in her own life. Peoples uses a delicate touch to tell this touching mother daughter story, and deserves a lot of praise as a first time director.

I saw a lot of myself and my family in this movie which I appreciated the representation of. All the worry about money and Nichole Beharie having to jump through hoops and play the game to get her daughter ahead in life is what being a Black parent is all about, truly a excellent performance. Kai, her daughter, is extremely adorable and we can sense her inner dreamer ready to burst out when given the water and sunlight needed to flourish. She represents all of us children of immigrants or multiple generation African Americans who are finding their place in a world that has yet to make the space for them. Having to worry about getting full ride scholarships and juggling her love and inner truths is weighty stuff and she handles it all with grace and heart. So deserved of the Gotham award hopefully this awesome indie movie and Nikki get their dues down the like as well <3

7/10 - this entertaining and important film akes for good Juneteenth viewing and gives a spotlight to the culturally significant pageant in a place you might not expect it.