American Son

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ½

The voice of American theater has been a scream of rage and impotence when real lives slam up against the facade of the American Dream. A common tool has been to confine people to a place they cannot escape and then to build the pressure slowly until something explodes (think of “A Long Days Journey into Night,” “Night of the Iguana,” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” just to name a few). The fact that this film was a play first is instructional, as it definitely follows that trope. Kendra is a Black woman stuck in a police station over a very long night while she tries to find out where her son is. The entire film consists of her, her husband, and two police officers as they circle around each other while their own various needs, insecurities, and fears leak out. The play was released just last year and is a story for our times. All sorts of racial assumptions, fears, and unspoken pains are explored. And they are explored for everyone in the room. Kendra’s own biases are on display as well. This film attempts to show just how complicated race relations are, even when everyone involved in sincere. There are so many layers of messy here that I can see why some people might struggle. The person I saw it with took issue with how the white men were portrayed; they seemed over-the-top. I disagree. I think that it’s hard to look at ourselves honestly. And, if we did, we would find a lot of that same ugliness inside of ourselves. Deep down good people can have racist beliefs that they do not admit to themselves but that can come out in moments of stress. I would be willing to bet that many of the “Karens” we have been hearing about lately, would adamantly believe that they are not racist. The people in this film felt absolutely real to me. Now, theater is not Cinéma Vérité. One of the hallmarks of a stage play is the stylized language. These people all sound like characters in a play; there is something about their cadence and language that sounds uniquely theater. But, if you can look past that, there is a lot of hard truth to be had. But, be warned, this is not an easy journey. Kerry Washington is incendiary as the terrified, furious, anxious, indignant, heartbroken woman at the center of this story. She is on screen for every second of the 90 minutes and her character never rests. She is constantly kinetic and constantly emoting. It’s an amazing performance. I would like to recommend it to everyone. But, this is a harrowing story, and I’m not sure if the mother of a Black teen would find it cathartic or traumatizing. That said, if you are removed from the daily reality of race relations in this country, and you want to try and understand how complicated it has all become, watch this movie (and then check out The 1619 Project from The New York Times). I should note that the critics (the few who reviewed it) have hated this film. Some dismiss it for reasons that I think may reflect their own discomfort with the subject matter, but I do think others have legitimate points. Tambay Obenson has a fantastic review for IndieWire, but I wonder if he has a bit too much faith in how aware White Americans are about the complexity of systemic racism. This felt like the movie most Americans need to see. I do believe that good, well-meaning officers act just like officer Larkin all the time without ever knowing how their behavior is experienced. I also believe it is possible for a White man to love a Black woman and still have deep prejudices about her race and community. I did not find any easy answers in this film, but I found a lot of compelling questions. I want to make one note about the end, so SPOILER ALERT: Where I was disappointed with the film was in the final few moments, when it chose to answer the question of where Jamal was. That felt manipulative to me. We didn’t need to know Jamal was dead to know that Black people die in police encounters all the time. I wish they had left the question unanswered; maybe cut away just as the officer enters the room with the answer. We don’t need the question answered. I think the film works so much better as a parable if we don’t know. That leaves the audience uneasy and I think that is more impactful than an answer. Also, the final line of the film bugs me. It’s just too much and seems a bit presumptuous to give it to a White character. I get the inversion that the playwright is going for; it just didn’t work for me. All of that said, I think this is a film well worth seeing and even more worth talking about afterwards.