If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Drama, Romance

Director: Barry Jenkins
Writers: Barry Jenkins, James Baldwin
Starring: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Teyonah Parris

"Trust Love All the Way."

Set in early-1970s Harlem, If Beale Street Could Talk is a timeless and moving love story of both a couple's unbreakable bond and the African-American family's empowering embrace, as told through the eyes of 19-year-old Tish Rivers (screen newcomer KiKi Layne). A daughter and wife-to-be, Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have connected her and her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny (Stephan James). Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit. Through the unique intimacy and power of cinema, If Beale Street Could Talk honors the author's prescient words and imagery, charting the emotional currents navigated in an unforgiving and racially biased world as the filmmaker poetically crosses time frames to show how love and humanity endure.

Plot summary from IMDb: A woman in Harlem embraces her pregnancy while she and her family struggle to prove her fiancé innocent of a crime.

Awards: N/A
Runtime: 119 min
R