Regardless, I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. It had a charm to it that reminded me a lot of Damsels in Distress. It's a movie about college students who have too much time to think about things. Some of these are important things. Some aren't. But, unlike something like Higher Learning, it doesn't rely on histrionics to make its points. Ok, maybe a little, but there were no neo-nazis shooting up a school. Just some white kids who thought blackface was fine (Note, still not a good thing. Not as bad as murder).
That's really my only issue with the movie: the party. While I [sadly] have no trouble believing that a party like that would be thrown at a college, I have trouble believing that the school's humor magazine would be throwing it and be popular enough to make it a success. It's not even that I think that "edgy" 20-year olds who are trying to be clever wouldn't come up with something like that. I've just never heard of a group of comedy writers who are as popular, powerful, and social as would be needed for this. That's one of those issues that got way outsized in my own head, I'll admit. It's not that big of a deal to the film.
The cast is wonderful. Tessa Thompson does a great job balancing how frustrating and endearing her character can be. Tyler James Williams does a lot without needing to say much. Teyonah Parris and Brandon P. Bell were the most interesting to me, watching both of their characters trying to "fit in" with what they believed was proper society. All the characters are more complex than a single sentence though, which is what makes them so enjoyable.
This film thoroughly exceeded my expectations, which I'll admit, were not that high. I won't make that mistake again with one of Justin Simien's films.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
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