Really Love | |
---|---|
Directed by | Angel Kristi Williams |
Written by | Felicia Pride Angel Kristi Williams |
Screenplay by | Felicia Pride |
Produced by | Mel Jones Charles D. King Kim Roth Aaliyah Williams Angel Kristi Williams |
Starring | Kofi Siriboe Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing Uzo Aduba Mack Wilds Naturi Naughton Suzzanne Douglas Jade Eshete Blair Underwood Michael Ealy |
Cinematography | Shawn Peters |
Edited by | Steven Pristin Brian Ufberg |
Music by | Khari Mateen |
Production companies | MACRO Homegrown Productions |
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Really Love is a 2020 American romantic drama film directed by Angel Kristi Williams and co-written with Felicia Pride. The film is set in Washington, D.C., and centers the romance between a struggling artist (Kofi Siriboe) and an ambitious law student (Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing). Really Love debuted in October 2020 at AFI Film Festival. It received mainly positive critical reception and leads Wong-Loi-Sing and Siriboe received a Special Jury Recognition for Acting at South by Southwest.
"Set in a gentrifying Washington, D.C., a rising Black painter tries to break into a competitive art world, while balancing a whirlwind romance he never expected."[1]
Really Love is director Angel Kristi Williams' feature film debut and Felicia Pride's debut screenplay.[2] The two met through a mutual friend, after which Pride showed Williams the Really Love screenplay and invited her to direct the project.[3]
Williams stated that she was inspired by films including In the Mood For Love, Blue Valentine, and Love Jones.[4] The production designer was Nathan Parker and the cinematographer was Shawn Peters.[4][5] It was produced and financed by Homegrown Pictures and Charles D. King's production company MACRO.[4] The artwork done by Isaiah in the film was created by artists Gerald Lovell, Chanel Compton, and Ronald Jackson.[5][3]
On July 8, 2018 it was announced that Kofi Siriboe was cast in a lead role in the film.[6] Uzo Aduba, Naturi Naughton, Tristan Wilds, Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing, and Jade Eshete were announced as cast members on July 26, 2018.[7] Michael Ealy was announced on July 31, 2018.[8] The film is one of the last projects completed by Suzzanne Douglas prior to her death in 2021.[3]
The film was shot beginning in July 2018 on-location in Washington, D.C., as well as in Baltimore, Williams' hometown.[6] Shooting locations included the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Baltimore School for the Arts, the Parkway Theatre, Dovecote Cafe, and Williams' grandmother's home in Park Heights.[5]
The film was originally set to premiere at South by Southwest in March 2020. However, after the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it debuted at AFI's virtual film festival in October 2020.[4] Really Love began streaming on Netflix on August 25, 2021.[9][10]
The official soundtrack with an original jazz score composed by Khari Mateen was released on September 17, 2021.[11] Screenwriter Felicia Pride said the soundtrack's ambiance was influenced by tracks like "Sumthin Sumthin (Mellosmoothe)" by Maxwell from the film Love Jones.[11] Ari Lennox, Kamasi Washington, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, and others appear in Really Love.[3]
Really Love received positive reception. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[12]
In a review for Film Threat, Alex Saveliev compared the film to If Beale Street Could Talk and praised it as a "gentle, poignant examination of two young people at the dawn of self-discovery".[2] In a similarly positive review, Robert Daniels wrote for The Playlist, "“Really Love” is a timeless black romance. Kristi Williams is an assured new voice already nestling herself inside audiences’ hearts."[13]