John Boyega Is On Fire in ‘Red, White and Blue’

Though set in the 1980s like Lovers Rock, another movie in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series, the tone of Red, White and Blue feels much more familiar to Mangrove, a film set in the ’60s. In its short runtime, the gripping drama chronicles the early career of real-life former superintendent Leroy Logan (John Boyega). A young forensic scientist growing increasingly weary of his days locked away in a lab, Leroy decides to fulfill a childhood dream of being a police officer.

Though he’s well-aware of racism and injustices, having even experienced some first hand, Leroy is determined to shift the Black community’s perception of the police while calling out racist treatment and politics within the force. If that sounds like a naive endeavor for a 20-something Black Londoner in the 1980s, it’s because it is. 

Instead of breaking through and shattering the mold, Leroy finds himself pigeonholed and ostracized from his fellow police officers who remind him at every turn that he’s not really one of them. More painful than the enraging treatment he faces at work is what Leroy deals with at home. 

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'Mangrove' Will Leave You Enraged, but That's the Point

Like Lover’s Rock, Mangrove, the first film chronologically in Steve McQueen‘s Small Axe series, begins with a song. Based on a true story, the film opens in 1968. We meet Frank Crichlow (Shaun Parkes), a self-assured Black man who smokes and plays card games in a vibrant room with other men. The liveliness and color he’s initially surrounded with fade into a muted neutral color as he descends up into London’s streets and walks forward into the community of Notting Hill.

Frank is on a mission. Having closed his previous establishment that appeared to be a catch-all of questionable activity, including numbers running and a meeting place for alleged criminals, he’s ready to open his Mangrove restaurant. A Trinidadian-born Londoner, Frank is proud to serve dishes and deliver ambiance so near and dear to him. 

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Steve McQueen's 'Lovers Rock' Is a Sumptuous Display of Black Joy

Black joy undoubtedly exists. The diaspora would never have survived all that has been thrust upon it without these moments of levity. However, throughout the history of cinema, studios and filmmakers have made very little room for Black love, romance, lust, and sensuality. It is only in recent years following the twenty-year drought that existed between films like Love & Basketball, Love Jones, and even The Best Man that Black love has reemerged in cinema. Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock has solidified itself in this new emergence of Black passion, seen in recent films like Queen & Slim and The Photograph.

Set in London in 1980, Lovers Rock follows a group of young people as they descend on a house party to celebrate Cynthia’s (Ellis George) 17th birthday. Having enlisted her West Indian family’s help, we watch Cynthia’s mother and aunties working in the kitchen, preparing pots of curry goat and ackee and saltfish to sell. They take time to sway their rounded hips and sing-along to the radio between the chopping and stirring. 

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