American Fiction

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we get a surprise at the Oscars this weekend and American Fiction walked away with Best Picture. It may even get my vote if I was lucky enough to get a say in the selection of that Holy Grail of trophies.

There are a lot of ‘moral’, ‘socially conscious’ and ‘culturally satirical’ films but not many that so deftly and gently traverse these particular waters without slapping the audience round the face, without pandering or demeaning them and whilst also being able to tell a wonderfully moving and heartfelt family drama at the same time.

It’s a quite staggering film, making its points loud and clear whilst also allowing space for conversation and rounding off every character so that you could take the core book plot away completely and still have a compelling story.

Tracee Ellis Ross and Sterling K. Brown do so much with their supporting characters but the film belongs to Jeffrey Wright who has to do so much, often with just a look, to articulate the mind of a character who at times has to skirt the line of unknowable.

It’s an essential watch for so many reasons and another top table addition to the Best Picture nominations.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️