We Grown Now (2023)
We Grown Now is a quiet and
thoughtful drama about the day to day lives of two young boys living in the
Cabrini-Green public housing projects in Chicago, circa 1992. Best friends
Malik (Blake Cameron James) and Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez) do what they can to
escape the mundane life of poverty, whether that is skipping class or stunt
jumping on old mattresses. After the shocking death of a child in the neighborhood
by a stray bullet, the boys begin to question their own existence. Of course,
Malik's mother (Jurnee Smollett) and Eric's father (Lil Rey Howery) worry more
and more about their children.
The power of We Grown Now comes
from the quiet scenes of Malik and Eric sharing their hopes and dreams...and
fears. James and Ramirez are very good, delivering very natural performances.
They never appear like they are "acting."
We Grown Now won the Changemaker
Award at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, and it also won the
Audience Choice Award for Best U.S. Feature at the Chicago International Film
Festival. It's written and directed by Minhal Baig, and she's a confident
filmmaker who isn't afraid to let scenes play out in near silence. The film
also has some absolutely beautiful and creative cinematography by Pat Scola.
There are two scenes that are a little
overly dramatic, but We Grown Now is so well done that it earns the
right to do that. The movie builds to an incredibly emotional final scene that
will just sneak up on you.
