'Earth Mama' Review: Savanah Leaf Examines Motherhood, Shame And Longing In Directorial Debut For A24 (Sundance)

There is so much longing in motherhood. There is a deep yearning for the past and a desire for the future. For Gia (Tia Nomore), a pregnant young mother desperate to get her two older children out of foster care, the pining is nearly unbearable. 

Based on her short film, The Heart Still Hums, Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama follows Gia as she moves through the monotony of her day. She works 15 hours a week at a photo center, attends various court-ordered therapy and parenting courses, and races across town to visit her children for her weekly one-hour supervised visit. Exhaustion, guilt, and the whispers of her addiction weigh heavily on Gia, but her present circumstances seem permanent. 

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Elegance Bratton's 'The Inspection' Starring Jeremy Pope And Gabrielle Union Is A Stellar Examination Of Resilience And Self-Acceptance (TIFF Review)

Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union are absolutely stellar in The Inspection.

Merriam-Webster defines the word inspection as “a careful and critical examination.” In his fiction debut film, filmmaker Elegance Bratton turns his sharp lens on his own story of rejection, perseverance, and self-acceptance. Set in Trenton, New Jersey, in the years following the September 11th terrorist attack, The Inspection follows Ellis French, a quiet young man whose sensitivity and sexuality have driven a wedge between him and his hostile and hyper-religious mother, Inez (Gabrielle Union, who also served as executive producer). Her rejection of Ellis at age 16 has led him to homelessness for nearly a decade of his life. The distance between himself and his mother wounds Ellis so profoundly that he decides to enlist in the Marines in a final effort to earn not just her respect but her love.

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