homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Weekend





Subscriber content preview

October 14, 2022

At the Movies: ‘Till' grippingly reorients an American tragedy

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

In “Till,” a wrenching, rigorous drama about Emmett Till's brutal murder, director Chinonye Chukwu keeps the story gripped to Emmett's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler), reorienting a public crime as a private trauma, and Mamie's subsequent metamorphosis into a civil rights activist as a profound act of grief-fueled resistance. Emmett is played by Jalyn Hall.

Almost by default, filmmakers typically take a wide lens to historical moments like the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till. In reaching for a defining chapter of America, it's natural for a movie to aim for a sweeping portrait of a shifting society.


 
. . .


To read this story in full login or purchase a subscription.



Previous columns:



Email or user name:
Password:
 
Forgot password? Click here.