Firstly, kudos to both Regina Hall (Gail Bishop) and Zoe Renee (Jasmine Moore) who made this movie watchable.
Next, I'm not a big fan of the overall message but it's all the rage nowadays so I get it. Of course it must exaggerate and forget that Obama was the most powerful man in the entire world for eight years in order for it's theme to be believable. The strangest part of all is that Jasmine never seems to realize the racism she's experiencing, even resisting the notion. Is that because it didn't happen before she got to college? No. We are led to believe she is simply naive which, for me, was the hardest pill to swallow.
Working in the "Witch" and "Hell" as symbolism and/or pseudo explanations for the actions of the oblivious "white" people is a clever technique. It draws the viewer in to make them feel the reality of the dread that's being (and has been) experienced.
The twist of all twists comes when Liv Beckman (Amber Gray) pulls a Jussie Smollett/Rach Dolezal combo ruse on everyone. Not only is this a major betrayal, it's yet another "white" infraction of the worst kind. We also learn (inferred) she was the one behind the hate crimes against Jasmine ... a necessary evil to target a real black woman so she could gain her tenure in furtherance of the hoax.
Despite the main message that "it" cannot be escaped and "it" always follows, Gail quits anyway. Where she's gonna go or what purpose it serves, I don't know, since we've already learned it doesn't make a damn bit of difference.
As a side note, I have absolutely no idea what Amelia meant when she told Gail "I'm not going through that again." Seems like it should be obvious but I haven't a clue.
Anyway, its not something I would call "good," but definitely an above average effort: (C+)
Next, I'm not a big fan of the overall message but it's all the rage nowadays so I get it. Of course it must exaggerate and forget that Obama was the most powerful man in the entire world for eight years in order for it's theme to be believable. The strangest part of all is that Jasmine never seems to realize the racism she's experiencing, even resisting the notion. Is that because it didn't happen before she got to college? No. We are led to believe she is simply naive which, for me, was the hardest pill to swallow.
Working in the "Witch" and "Hell" as symbolism and/or pseudo explanations for the actions of the oblivious "white" people is a clever technique. It draws the viewer in to make them feel the reality of the dread that's being (and has been) experienced.
The twist of all twists comes when Liv Beckman (Amber Gray) pulls a Jussie Smollett/Rach Dolezal combo ruse on everyone. Not only is this a major betrayal, it's yet another "white" infraction of the worst kind. We also learn (inferred) she was the one behind the hate crimes against Jasmine ... a necessary evil to target a real black woman so she could gain her tenure in furtherance of the hoax.
Despite the main message that "it" cannot be escaped and "it" always follows, Gail quits anyway. Where she's gonna go or what purpose it serves, I don't know, since we've already learned it doesn't make a damn bit of difference.
As a side note, I have absolutely no idea what Amelia meant when she told Gail "I'm not going through that again." Seems like it should be obvious but I haven't a clue.
Anyway, its not something I would call "good," but definitely an above average effort: (C+)