Pariah review, Sundance Film Festival: Director Dee Rees makes her coming-out drama 'Pariah' a beautiful tale of teen independence.
(5 out of 5 stars)
Many current films are called the "new" Precious simply due to subject matter or for the sake of an easy description. First-time feature director Dee Rees earns the comparison plus more with Pariah, a riveting and emotionally rich drama of teen independence from Northstar Pictures and Sundial Pictures. Making its premiere recently in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, Pariah lives up to its pre-fest hype thanks to Rees' honest storytelling, her rich use of the film's Brooklyn locations and newcomer Adepero Oduye's breakout role as the heroine of the story.
Focus Features, who picked up Pariah during Sundance, plans to release Rees’ debut feature later this year. Hopefully, audiences will embrace Rees as the up-and-coming filmmaker that she is.
Alike (Oduye) is a 17-year-old teen and aspiring writer who hits the clubs with her sometime girlfriend Laura (Pernell Walker). Alike keeps her clubbing and coming-out a secret from her parents Audrey (Kim Wayans) and Arthur (Charles Parnell). Being true to herself puts Alike’s relationship with her parents at risk. Still, after an unexpected friendship with a girl at school (Aasha Davis), Alike understands that if she wants to reach her potential as a writer and as a young woman, she has to be honest and open with everyone around her no matter the consequences.
After working with Rees on her short film version of Pariah, Oduye returns as Alike and brings the feature-length drama alive with youthful intensity, emotional honesty and at just the right moments some welcome comic relief. Oduye, who’s appeared on-stage for choreographer Bill T. Jones and on network shows like Louie and Law & Order, creates heartbreaking drama in scenes with Alike’s disapproving mother and her surprisingly tolerant father. Still, Oduye’s best moments stem from her small gestures throughout the movie. On a bus ride home after clubbing, she changes her clothes in order to hide her habits from her parents. Through a friend at school, she learns that there are many young women experiencing similar challenges regarding coming out to friends and family.
Pernell Walker shines as Alike’s friend and coming out advisor Laura.
Kim Wayans shows a talent for high drama as Alike’s conservative mother. Charles Parnell’s teams up with Oduye for the film’s most poignant scene, a rooftop conversation between Alike and her father where she decides to come clean and do what’s best for her.
Rees does a good job expanding her short film to feature length with crisscrossing subplots involving Alike’s friends and family and a well-drawn ensemble of supporting characters. Working with editor Mako Kamitsuna, Rees pulls all the subplot strings tight by the end of the film and finishes Pariah in dramatic fashion. Cameraman Bradford Young makes stunning use of the film’s Fort Greene, Brooklyn locations. Production designer Inbal Weinberg and costume designer Eniola Dawodu bring to life all the little details of a middle-class, teenage girl coming of age in Brooklyn.
Perhaps, by the closing credits, after Alike makes her decision regarding what she wants to do with her life, the comparisons to the previous Sundance drama Precious feel simplistic and generalized. But the unifying themes between these two films include a complex, thoroughly engaging young female heroine, a vibrant slice of New York life seldom seen in movies and breakout work from young cast and crew worthy of the spotlight. Pariah is one of those rare Sundance dramas that hit all of its emotional targets. Calling it the next Precious may not be complimentary enough.
Distributor: Focus Features
Cast: Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell, Aasha Davis
Director: Dee Rees
Screenwriter: Dee Rees
Cinematography: Bradford Young
Editor: Mako Kamitsuna
Production Designer: Inbal Weinberg
Costume Designer: Eniola Dawodu
Producers: Northstar Pictures and Sundial Pictures
Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 84 mins.
Release Date: 2011
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