Sanaa Lathan’s ‘One The Come’ Up Adds To the Black Girl Cinema Cannon (TIFF Review)

Aside from a few examples, Black girlhood has all been but ignored in the cinema landscape. There are a few outliers; Crooklyn, Alma’s Rainbow, Pariah, Selah, and the Spades, and Eve’s Bayou come to mind. However, if you consider Hollywood overall, Black teen girls don’t exist in their own stories. Sanaa Lathan’s directorial debut, On the Come Up, adds a much-needed tale to a very sparse catalog. Adapted from the critically acclaimed novel by Angie Thomas, On the Come Up follows 16-year-old Bri (vibrant newcomer Jamila Gray). The teen is trying to find her footing in the music world by stepping out of the shadow of her late father, who was killed just as his rap career was taking off.

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'Concrete Cowboy' is Warm, but not Quite Riveting

Cowboys are deeply embedded in American popular culture. After all, the Western genre dominated Hollywood box offices for years. Films like Once Upon A Time in the West and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly have become the standard for idyllic versions of the heroic cattle-header. Though his legacy stretches from the streets of South Central LA to North Philadelphia, the Black cowboy has been erased from the history books. However, with his coming-age-story, Concrete Cowboy, first-time feature filmmaker Ricky Staub is unveiling an underworld often overlooked while highlighting a young teen’s fragile road to manhood. 

Based on Greg Neri’s novel, Ghetto Cowboy — Concrete Cowboy follows Cole (a gripping Caleb McLaughlin), a teen boy living in Detroit with his single mother. Terrified for her son’s life and out of options following yet another school expulsion, Cole’s mother packs his clothing in garbage bags and drives the near 600 miles from Detroit to Philly. 

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