''Really Love'' is a 2020 American

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film directed by Angel Kristi Williams and co-written with

Felicia Pride Felicia Pride is an American author, screenwriter, producer, and director. She is the author of six books, including the young adult novel ''Patterson Heights''. Pride has written for the television shows ''Queen Sugar'' and ''Grey's Anatomy''. He ...

. The film is set in Washington, D.C., and centers the romance between a struggling artist (

Kofi Siriboe Nana-Kofi Siriboe (born March 2, 1994) is an American actor and model. He is best known for his role as Ralph Angel Bordelon on the television series ''Queen Sugar'' (2016–present). He has also appeared in films such as ''The Longshots'' (2008) ...

) and an ambitious law student (Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing). ''Really Love'' debuted in October 2020 at

AFI Film Festival The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

. It received mainly positive critical reception and leads Wong-Loi-Sing and Siriboe received a Special Jury Recognition for Acting at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

Plot

"Set in a gentrifying

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, a rising Black painter tries to break into a competitive art world, while balancing a whirlwind romance he never expected."

Cast

as Isaiah Maxwell, a struggling artist * Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing as Stevie Richmond, an ambitious law student *

Blair Underwood Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film ''Krush Groove'' and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series ''L.A. Law''. Underwood has a ...

as Jerome Richmond, Stevie's Father *

Uzo Aduba Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba (; born February 10, 1981) is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series '' Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she won an ...

as Chenai Hungwe *

Mack Wilds Tristan Paul Mack Wilds (born July 15, 1989) is an American actor, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series, ''The Wire'', and as Dixon Wilson on the CW teen drama series ...

as Nick Wright, Isaiah's friend since childhood *

Naturi Naughton Naturi Cora Maria Naughton (born May 20, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Naughton is best known as one-third of the Contemporary R&B, R&B group 3LW and for her acting roles in the films ''Fame (2009 film), Fame'' and ''Notor ...

as Sicily Richmond, Stevie's cousin *

Suzzanne Douglas Suzzanne Douglas (April 12, 1957 – July 6, 2021) was an American actress. She was best known for her role as matriarch Geraldine "Jerri" Peterson on The WB sitcom ''The Parent 'Hood'', starring Robert Townsend, which originally ran from 1995 ...

as Anne Richmond, Stevie's mother *

Michael Ealy Michael Brown (born August 3, 1973), professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Barbershop'' (2002), '' 2 Fast 2 Furious'' (2003), ''Takers'' (2010), ''Think Like a Man'' (2012), ''About Last Ni ...

as Yusef Davis, Isaiah's colleague *

Jade Eshete Jade Eshete (born January 9, 1985) is an American television and film actress. She starred on the BBC America series ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency''. Early life Jade Eshete was born to Guyanese and Ethiopian parents in Brooklyn, N ...

as Mecca Gerima *

GoldLink D'Anthony William Carlos (born May 17, 1993), better known by his stage name GoldLink, is an American rapper and singer. In 2014, he released his debut mixtape, ''The God Complex'', which received critical acclaim. In June 2015, GoldLink was cho ...

as himself

Production

''Really Love'' is director Angel Kristi Williams' feature film debut and

's debut screenplay. The two met through a mutual friend, after which Pride showed Williams the ''Really Love'' screenplay and invited her to direct the project. Williams stated that she was inspired by films including ''

In the Mood For Love ''In the Mood for Love'' is a 2000 romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Wong Kar-wai. A co-production between Hong Kong and France, it portrays a man ( Tony Leung) and a woman (Maggie Cheung) whose spouses have an affair toget ...

'', '' Blue Valentine,'' and '' Love Jones''. The production designer was Nathan Parker and the cinematographer was Shawn Peters. It was produced and financed by Homegrown Pictures and Charles D. King's production company MACRO. The artwork done by Isaiah in the film was created by artists Gerald Lovell, Chanel Compton, and Ronald Jackson. On July 8, 2018 it was announced that

was cast in a lead role in the film.

Tristan Wilds Tristan Paul Mack Wilds (born July 15, 1989) is an American actor, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series, ''The Wire'', and as Dixon Wilson on the CW teen drama seri ...

, Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing, and

were announced as cast members on July 26, 2018.

was announced on July 31, 2018. The film is one of the last projects completed by Suzzanne Douglas prior to her death in 2021. The film was shot beginning in July 2018 on-location in

, as well as in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Williams' hometown. Shooting locations included the

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

, the

Baltimore School for the Arts The Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) is a public performing arts high school located in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland, United States and is part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system. Established in 1979, The Baltimore School for the ...

, the

Parkway Theatre The Parkway Theatre, also known as the Rolland Theatre and since 1952 as the Holy House of Prayer for All People, is a historic former theater at 1768 St. Johns Place, at the intersection with Eastern Parkway in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, N ...

, Dovecote Cafe, and Williams' grandmother's home in

Park Heights Park Heights is an area of Baltimore City, Maryland, that lies approximately 10 miles northwest of downtown Baltimore and within two miles of the Baltimore County line. A 1,500-acre community, Park Heights comprises 12 smaller neighborhoods that ...

Release

The film was originally set to premiere at

in March 2020. However, after the festival was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, it debuted at

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

's virtual film festival in October 2020. ''Really Love'' began streaming on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on August 25, 2021.

Soundtrack

The official soundtrack with an original jazz score composed by Khari Mateen was released on September 17, 2021. Screenwriter

said the soundtrack's ambiance was influenced by tracks like "Sumthin Sumthin (Mellosmoothe)" by Maxwell from the film '' Love Jones''.

Ari Lennox Courtney Shanade Salter (born March 26, 1991), known professionally as Ari Lennox, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer from Washington, D.C. She is the first female artist to be signed to J. Cole's record label, Dreamville Records. She b ...

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American jazz saxophonist, usually playing tenor saxophone. Archived July 9, 2015. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raised in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of the Academy of ...

, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, and others appear in ''Really Love''.

Reception

''Really Love'' received positive reception. On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, 86% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. In a review for ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...

'', Alex Saveliev compared the film to ''

If Beale Street Could Talk ''If Beale Street Could Talk'' is a 1974 novel by American writer James Baldwin. His fifth novel (and 13th book overall), it is a love story set in Harlem in the early 1970s. The title is a reference to the 1916 W.C. Handy blues song "Beale S ...

'' and praised it as a "gentle, poignant examination of two young people at the dawn of self-discovery". In a similarly positive review, Robert Daniels wrote for ''The Playlist'', "“Really Love” is a timeless black romance. Kristi Williams is an assured new voice already nestling herself inside audiences’ hearts."

Awards and nominations

2020
SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

* Nominee, Grand Jury Award for Narrative Feature – Angel Kristi Williams * Winners, Special Jury Recognition for Acting – Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing and

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title 2020 drama films 2020 films American independent films African-American romantic drama films Films set in Washington, D.C. 2020 romantic drama films 2020 independent films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films