Till

Based on Keith Beauchamp’s investigative work and directed by Chinonye Chukwu is the telling of the true story of the murder of 14 year old Emmett Till. Mamie Till (Danielle Deadwyler) is a single mother bringing up her son Emmett (Jalyn Hall) in 1950’s Chicago. At 14 he is keen to head to Mississippi to spend time with his cousins. Mamie is concerned, as a black woman who grew up in the south, she knows the different world her son will be visiting. Her worries are not unfounded and when Emmett has an interaction with white shopkeeper Carolyn Bryant (Hayley Bennett), it starts a chain of events that leads a lynch mob kidnapping Emmet. A few days later his beaten, mutilated, murdered body is found in a river. When Emmett’s body is returned to Chicago and Mamie sees his mutilated body she wants America to see what was done to him. His open casket funeral leads to national coverage of the disgusting crime and Mamie to Mississippi to testify at the trial of the perpetrators.

The abhorrent reality of Emmett’s murder is always going to be more impactful than any dramatisation. Chukwu realises this so rather he focuses on Mamie and everything that the horror of her child’s death brings

It is this study of her anguish were the film is at its best. It lets its impressive star, Danielle Deadwyler, shine brightly as she portrays powerfully and movingly a mother’s life crashing around her in the most horrific way.

Outside of this, a bit like with the recent She Said, the importance of telling this story overcomes some of the deficiencies in how it is told. As it does sometime struggles to balance the tough reality with the character study.

The film also looks incredible thanks to Bobby Bukowski’s wonderful cinematography.

While the film has some deficiencies it is made up for by Danielle Deadwyler’s outstanding central portrayal of grief and drive for justice for her child. The abhorrent crime at its center deserves to be understood and for that reason it makes Till more than worth a watch.