Lex

Till

he was somebody's child too

josie

Till

i went into this really wanting to be moved, and instead i walked away frustrated and deeply disappointed. this is a film about one of the most horrific and pivotal moments in black american history, and that alone sets a high bar, and this film simply does not meet it. as a black woman, i unfortunately go into a lot of these films expecting to be disappointed. even with my lowered standards, this was really really bad. i think my biggest issue, and one i truly cannot get past, is the decision to depict Emmett Till flirting with a white woman. there is no proof that this ever happened. none. this fabrication is not a harmless creative liberty, it directly reinforces the very lie that was used to justify his brutal murder. to include that insinuation, even subtly, feels irresponsible at best and extremely harmful at worst. when dealing with real historical trauma, especially trauma that has been distorted and weaponized against black people for decades, accuracy is not optional. when this film was announced, i vividly remember people writing it off as oscar bait, so i steered clear before deciding to give it a chance a few years later. i can confirm that this film feels aggressively like oscar bait. everything from the swelling score, to the lingering close-ups, to the carefully "respectable" framing of suffering, screams prestige rather than purpose. instead of trusting the weight of the history to speak for itself, the movie constantly nudges you, reminding you that this is a Serious Film meant to be rewarded. it comes off as calculated, sanitized, and oddly self-congratulatory, which is the last thing a story like this should be. this film not being nominated for a single award after trying so hard to be feels slightly satisfying, though i will be the first person to admit the academy has a long, disgusting history of racism. two things can be true! the direction plays it far too safe. Mamie Till-Mobley's grief is central, but the film rarely allows it to be as raw, confrontational, or unsettling as it should be. this is a story that should leave you shaken and furious; instead, it often feels polished and emotionally distant, as if it's more concerned with being palatable to white audiences and awards voters than with truly reckoning with the brutality of what happened. all of that said, despite my issues with this film, i still believe films about history, especially black history, are SO important right now, especially when the current administration is actively trying to erase, rewrite, and minimize it. these stories need to be told with care, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to the truth. when a film gets those things wrong, it doesn't just fail as cinema, it fails the history it claims to honor. this should've been powerful, devastating, and necessary. instead, it was just disappointing in so many ways, and that somehow makes it even harder to swallow.

ron

Till

“What happens to any of us, anywhere in the world, had better be the business of us all.” I don’t particularly seek out or enjoy watching films like this because all they do is make me terribly sad. Not a “I was sad in the moment, and cried but when the movie turned off or I left the theater, I was able to go on with my day.” sad, like many (white/non-black) people who watched TILL or other similar films feel or felt. I feel a profoundly deep and lingering sadness and bitter resentment that stays with me for days—no matter the artistic quality of the film itself. Let’s just say that when this is your reality in America right now, as this very moment, it’s a quite blow to your psyche to see it reflected back at you and contend with the fact at how little things have truly changed. So, as I said, I typically avoid film’s like this and that’s why I put off watching it for so long. But, I really wanted to see Deadwyler’s performance. She’s incredible and while the script leaves much to be desired, Danielle leaves it all out there on the screen. Can definitelyunderstand why she’s been in the awards conversation this season. She embodied Mamie's strength or spirit as well as her sadness very well—her barely restrained grief making me emotional several times through. While Emmett’s (and Mamie’s) is a story that needed to be told, whatever my personal feelings on these kinds of film are, I just wish the telling had been more dynamic and thoughtful. Like most biopics, the narrative in linear, simple and straightforward. More creative and bold script choices (expanding on Mamie’s activism, for one) could have brought the film up to meet Deadwyler where she was, but alas it did not. As I said, this is a common failing of biopics. Regardless of the film’s quality I don’t care what any white person thinks about it. At all.I simply don’t (https://twitter.com/simplylay/status/1620653582151479297?s=46&t=QEzhZ-4Ca87XomL3cD-mSQ).