Love stories are a rare breed of late in Hollywood. It used to be a prolific milieu and sadly, they just don’t make them as they used to—not to sound like an old hawk. But it’s true. That’s why it’s like a breath of fresh air that The Photograph finds its way onto Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital download.
Two extremely enigmatic leads anchor an overwhelmingly delightful picture from writer-director Stella Meghie (The Weekend). Issa Rae (Little and the upcoming Lovebirds) stars as Mae, while Lakeith Stanfield (Straight Outta Compton, Uncut Gems) is Michael. Sure, the two thespians sizzle on the screen, but there is so much more to the cinematic combustion that arises from Mae and Michael. There’s an ease that so often is ignored by helmers as they direct their actors. In The Photograph, the couple at the heart of the romance gives off the sense that love doesn’t come easy, of course there are issues. But that affability and adoration go hand in hand.
The film is a beautiful and tender look at how abruptly life can change and the gnawing power of regret and how that can lay its shadow over an entire lifetime.
Our film introduces us to Mae as her famed photog mother suddenly passes away. She is left with a landscape that is littered with unanswered queries. She digs into her mother’s things in an attempt to learn something about her immensely private maternal influence. It is there she discovers a part of her mother’s history that was news to her. It seems that mom had a love affair that didn’t exactly end like a fairy tale. Meanwhile, she meets a journalist (Stanfield). They have combustible energy and that is frankly, a little scary. The more she learns about her mother, the more her own romance becomes simultaneously rich, passionate and all the other emotions that accompany aspiring love.
The filmmaker does a stellar job intertwining the love stories that are separated by decades. Yet, there are similarities. The more she falls for Michael, the more she feels she could be like her mother. The Photograph isn’t simply a motion picture about finding true love and all the complications that go along with that. It is firmly about finding oneself, crawling out of the shadow of our parents, and all that they influenced. It is a powerful statement on a myriad of issues that will certainly warrant multiple viewings. Yes, it’s worth the purchase to be able to revisit the astounding performances of all involved (including stunning supporting turns by Y’lan Noel as young Isaac, Chanté Adams as Christina, Mae’s mother, Chelsea Peretti as Sara, Teyonah Parris as Asia, Lil Ren Howery as Kyle, and Kelvin Harrison, Jr. as Andy.
The Photograph possesses bonus features that enhance the sentiment and tone of the film itself. It is a rare home video of late that takes that kind of care. Shooting The Photograph is more than just a making-of featurette. It features Rae, Stanfield, Meghie, and producer Will Packer waxing poetic about the intense care they took when bringing this touching tale to life.
We have seen a seismic change in the awareness of why representation matters across the board. From #OscarsSoWhite to other social movements, having folks on the big screen who look like you has never been so important and so prevalent. Culture in Film is a fantastic bonus feature that explores just that and finds filmmakers and the cast detailing how much that facet meant to them about the production of The Photogram. Not just in front of the camera, this bonus stresses the need for POC behind the camera as equally as important. – Filmmakers and cast discuss the importance of representation in the industry, the significance of being both in front of and behind the camera, and why this story matters.
In what may be the most powerful of the bonus features, The Film Through Photographs uses the titular medium to spotlight how photographs define us, expose us, enlighten us, and most importantly, move us. Not to use an old idiom, but it is true—a Photograph is worth a thousand words.
Film Grade: A-
Bonus Features: A-