The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster

This COULD have been great, it really could have. Maybe it just needed an extra 10 or 15 minutes to flesh out Vicaria & Chris' relationship, to SHOW us how close they were rather than just tell us. Maybe it needed to show a bit more of Vicaria's school life, to show us just how much of a genius she is rather than just tell us. Whatever it's lacking, it's not lacking much of it tbh.

While, yes, it IS a retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, it's also more than just that. It's a story of familial bonds, and how far one young woman will go to keep those bonds alive. It's a story that gives the Creature a better chance at finding the familial love that Shelley's Creature was so cruelly denied. It's a story that doesn't just update the source material to fit our current world, but also updates the hope within.

Denzel Whitaker puts in a solid performance as Kango, the local drug lord; Keith Holliday is equally good as Kango's second, Jamaal; Chad Coleman is REALLY good in his limited screen time as Vicaria's dad, Donald; but Laya DeLeon Hayes is the real star (as she should be, playing the lead role) as Vicaria, the strong, determined young woman fighting to revive her brother and thereby restore her family.

Honestly one of the best adaptations of Mary Shelley's iconic novel I've ever seen.

Death has been marking the life of the young and intelligent Vicaria (Laya DeLeon Hayes) for as long as she can remember. Both her mother and her brother have died, the latter murdered. And she lives alone with her authoritarian father (Chad L. Coleman). "Death is a disease" says Vicaria, a disease that she is about to eradicate by herself. After the brutal and sudden murder of her brother, she embarks on a dangerous journey to bring him back to life, though the results aren't entirely successful. A series of circumstances have led her to become a mad scientist capable of resurrecting bodies and making them a monstrous extension of all the rage and frustration that she has had to live and is having to live. Death can be cured !

A contemporary Frankenstein that examines, through terror, the horrors and brutalities faced by African-American communities living in marginal areas of the United States. Police violence, racism, criminal gangs, and the world of drugs have taken their toll on the protagonists and this is demonstrated throughout the film.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster(2023) thematically challenges our ideas of life and death. Bomani J. Story, the film's writer and director, crafts a thrilling tale about a family that, despite the terrors of systemic pressure, will survive and be reborn again. There is plenty of violence, grue and gore, the heart stops several times. The film is somewhat reminiscent of the much better ¨Deadly Friend¨ 1986 by Wes Craven also with a teenager from a simple suburban neighborhood who creates a kind of Frankenstein for his own purposes. The interpretations of everyone around are acceptable, such as: Laya DeLeon Hayes playing the lonely teenage genius, Chad L. Coleman as her daddy, Denzel Whitaker as Kango, Reilly Brooke Stith as Aisha , among others. The motion picture was mediocrely written/produced/directed by Bomani J. Story.

The low-budget film turns out to be mediocre, so it is advisable to see other better versions inspired by the Mary Shelley classic, among which I would include the following: ¨Victor Frankenstein¨ (2015) by Paul McGuigan with Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy, Jessica Brown Findlay. ¨Mary Shelley's Frankenstein¨ (1994) by Kenneth Branagh with Robert De Niro, Tom Hulce, Kenneth Branagh. ¨Frankenstein unbound¨ (1990) by Roger Corman with Jason Patrick, John Hurt, Bridget Fonda, Nick Brimble. ¨The Curse of Frankenstein¨ (1957) by Terence Fisher with Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart, Christopher Lee. ¨Bride of Frankenstein¨ (1935) by James Whale with Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger. ¨Frankenstein¨ (1931) by James Whale with Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster is not your typical Frankenstein movie, it's starring an almost all black cast and features the theme of growing up in the hood and the dangers that come with that. The actors deliver a solid job and we have some nice bloody gore, but on the other hand the movie suffers from plot holes and unrealistic scenes. Our protagonist somehow finds all the equipment to build a device to bring back people from the dead in an abandoned warehouse and also manages to steal some dead bodies for her to saw together for her monster. There are many other scenes that did not make sense and I think the script had too many problems. Also in the beginning there's a conflict with our protagonist and her teacher and the movie treats the teacher like she is the bad one, but it was the protagonist that kept interrupting and wouldn't listen and after dealing with the consequences her father got mad at the teacher telling her to teach even though that was what she was trying to do before the younger girl kept interrupting her disturbing the class. That immediately gave this movie a huge racial aspects that was unnecessary. With a slightly different script this movie could have turned out better but this way it's just forgettable and there are way better movies about bringing back people from the dead like Frankenstein did. [5,2/10]

I really did. The cast is uniformly very good to excellent. The lead (the "angry black girl" if you will), Laya DeLeon Hayes, gives a performance that is warm, human, funny, intense; her range is there. The rest of the cast was great with particular props for. Denzel Whittaker, Tracie Frank, and. Chad L. Coleman as standouts for me.

Now for the rest. The direction was spotty but decent. The cinematography was bizarre - the outdoor shots were often actually gorgeous; however, the indoor shots were awkward and sitcom-y, often to the point of taking this viewer out of the moment. Now for the script. This group of extremely talented, mostly young actors deserved so much more. There was no explanation for why anything happened (can't say too much without spoiling the plot). The dialogue started strong but kind of fell flat about halfway through. It's possible editing is to blame for some or even most of that.

All in all, it's a not-unpleasant but disappointing way to blow off some time, but it will leave you wishing for what could have been - because it could have been great.

Death is a disease and Vicaria (Laya DeLeon Hayes) intends to cure it. The black teenage genius comes from a rough neighborhood where drugs and death is all around. When her brother is killed, she puts her theory to use.

This is obviously trying to adapt Mary Shelley's Frankenstein into a modern 'ghetto'. There are moments of good tension. I actually find the school more compelling than the monster story. The 'monster' does not have enough screen time. Brother and sister should have more time together before and after the transformation. This movie needs to be about their relationship. The most interesting monster performance is Kango. The father is also interesting. This movie has a few good moments and probably a fine elevator pitch. It struggles to hold together in the second half.