I think the time period in this film is made to be ambiguous and feel like an alternate timeline where technology doesn’t happen at the same time as our reality. The style of clothing, the flip phones, the televisions mixed with the cloning technology and the mention of Book of Eli (cultural references spanning almost 30 years all exist together here in this reality as if modern) just seems like a world outside of time where things happened a little differently here.
Yeah, it’s difficult to nail down the time period. There was “old” music playing, but also they were talking about bitcoin. I think the vagueness is intentional - cause it doesn’t really matter 🤷🏽♀️
Not really. Yo-yo has a talk with Slick about Blockchain and Bitcoin. That right there doesn’t make it difficult at all. Present day, 2010/2020s. Easy.
Time moves differently in the hood so that aspect didn’t really bother me. You’ll have a 70s pimp-type driving his classic car, a caregiver Caribbean mom that somehow still has a flip phone, a conspiracy theory custodian that has all the Zeitgeist docs on VCR, young anime fans wearing SpongeBob merch… this is very normal in the hood or “postmodern” if you wanna be artsy about it.
I really enjoyed this movie! I thought it was thought-provoking, fun and for a directorial debut quite impressive. I understand the critiques, but also seems like the resolution to them could’ve been a conceptualizing the concept into a television series. There’s just so much one can do with an idea and story like this.
Ok, so at first I thought it was a comedy as well, and then it became real...by actually paying attention to the subtext, it was interesting...and by the end all the people realized that they were stronger together
Nick referencing John Witherspoon's rib shack in Friday after next is sending me 😭 😅😂 this film was very interesting. One and done viewing for me. Thanks for the review and all the best 💜
The beginning talked about blockchain and cryptocurrency so I think it’s intentionally ambiguous of the year it’s in. Like how ‘It Follows’ had different technologies from different generations coexisting subtly. You can’t plant your feet but you don’t totally question it, like a nightmare.
As far a why they decided so easily to help Fontaine To me it seemed like Fontaine and slick had a close relationship . He kept calling him OG & it felt like slick felt obligated for that reason And it was hinted that even though they had a pimp/ho dynamic/ they cared for each other in a messed up way And it also seemed like yo-yo was somewhat friends with Fontaine and it says she’s into them Nancy drew adventure books so she was down for a adventure basically
This was the first time I've ever appreciated a performance by John Boyega. I did an ugly cry during the scene after he breaks down the door to his mom's room and Junebug shows up talking about SpongeBob and they share Capri Suns. This film was giving me The Spook Who Sat by the Door crossed with Moon with Sam Rockwell.
You two are interesting and I like some of your perspectives. I watched from a different viewpoint. The reason you can’t really pinpoint the time. Because is purposefully ambiguous. It’s showing you how long this has been happening. From the 70s to present day. There’s so much being displayed, the site he has between himself, or at least a version of himself. The fact that he knows what’s going on. I can’t do anything about it, so he tries to go back to live in the way he had always lived, but now it’s too difficult. I think you guys should have more conversations and then we watch the movie. Wishing you all the best.
I think it was good, just took longer than it needed to really get interesting to me. I think if Brian Tyree Henry (like was originally supposed to be in the role) played Fontaine maybe it would've worked better in the beginning. My biggest issue that made it feel sluggish was the inability to care about the main character.
Kinda reminds me of Black Dynamite's Anaconda Malt Liquor subplot. I loved Kiefer Sutherland as the Strangers' co-conspirator in Dark City, channeling Bela Lugosi's Ygor from Bride of Frankenstein.
15:13 not just that, but his mom was literally not there. I think it’s also a commentary on the single mother epidemic in the black community, and how single mothers can’t even be physically present when they have to work just to live and provide for their kidsZ
Definitely had this review in my "Watch Later " and rushed over once I saw the film. Everytime Kiefer Sutherland plays a "less than favorable" character, I call him "Bob" from Free Way😄 If this was a series I would have liked a lot more explored.
This reminds me of the MK Ultra lsd incident in the 1950's where the government was dosing people on the nyc subways via aerosol & surfaces. I'll definitely be watching this.
@Nick-ql2qj i know the Crack epidemic was a major injustice to people of color perpetuated by the government. Meanwhile, White users of powder received a lesser sentence, especially harsh in cali, due to the 3 strikes law. I just looked up the relaxer cream controversy, so thank you. Of course, the 'news' isn't really reporting it. Also, most toilet paper contains formaldehyde, which causes cancer. And Flint still has toxic water. It's such a mess in here in the US.
It's a mixed story using Ira Levin themes: "Stepford Wives" (mind control), "Boys from Brazil" (clones) and "Sliver" (being watched by cameras) but in the urban neighborhoods; I knew it about Fontaine's mother... oh, and by the way, "Schizophrenia and Capitalism", the "Anti Oedipus" is from Deleuze-Guattari philosophers
Did enjoy the film, It did give me 70's vibe but then they mentioned 911 and other references. I don't think this is too far fetched from reality, as regards to technology scrolling on our phones, buying things we don't really need, plastic surgery, a lot of celebs look the same... I did wonder why Kefier Character did not say the safe word when everyone broke in to save saver her.
Im still unclear on why Fontaine's LA clone was renamed Tyrone in the last scene, a clone would remember his real name is Fontaine. And if he was a clone, shouldn't the title be They Cloned Fontaine?
Nope because in the whole film you're thinking who the hell is Tyrone. Only till you stay till the end is when you find out he isn't even the original, not even Tyrone is the original. It's just showing you how deep it may go. I believe even the geneticist is a clone, but also programmed to do what his job is posted. Remember in the movie, when they come out fresh from the pods, they are programmed to think whatever is shown on the screen they are being shown.
The older version of Fontaine was the original. Tyrone was just another clone. They mentioned they’d been cloning in LA, Chicago and Detroit. In this case I assume the clones have different names in different cities.
Also, unrelated film tangent here so scroll on if uninterested, but you guys talking about how this film would be interesting in modern times with tik tok and all that brought me to an idea I always discuss with my brother about the film The Truman Show. He said he wanted an updated version in todays technological world, and I argued that it wouldn’t be as realistic and would actually take away unless they placed Truman in a bubble society without the social media and the outside world watching did have it. That would be interesting to see. How the outside world compared a present life seemingly stuck in the past to their own. Would make for a great commentary.
Great analysis of the film. The idea behind it definitely seemed to only scratch the surface, which was disappointing because it had so many potentially interesting elements in it. Maybe it could have worked better as a series that explored each subplot further. And the inconsistency in tone got to me as well. Perhaps my bigger gripe with the film was that it didn’t seem to have much heart in it, so I didn’t feel connected to an my of the characters. Perhaps that was intentional, but it didn’t help my experience watching it Edit: spelling
7:44 I mean they saw him get shot and come back to life with their own eyes so lol I don’t see why they would need much convincing that something was wrong
This movie had some moments that had me laughing out loud. If they had leaned more on the comedy and chopped some scenes shorter, there's a potential masterpiece of a film in here. But I still enjoyed it overall, the main cast is great.
It gave me the same plot like as black dynamite and i wasnt into it and it wasnt as funny as i prefer . very whatever but i do like the angle of the film just feels like something that has been done before.
I think the movie was in present day but everyone that was cloned n that’s almost everyone would’ve been stuck in the timeframe that they died so it’s showing timeframes from multiple times but I think it’s based in present day
No wonder you both feel this is has a *captivating story* The second everyone's mental capabilities is 'tuned to' to the sameness frequency...a unique sense of humor could be 'deleted' in the next generation clone? So, perhaps for people who may not think 'testings' like these happen...here's a movie narrative 😅
I really wanted to love this film. But it had so many negative Black racist stereotypes in this film. The characters are drug dealers, drug user, forty ounce malt liquor drinkers, pimps and prostitutes. To poison our communities the government put poison in fry chicken. To enjoy the film you have to ignore all of this negativity
I'm excited to see this but sad that it's only another empty virtue signaling sounding film instead of a good movie that took advantage of a good opportunity to be great. :/
I really wanted to like the movie but I was rolling my eyes throughout the whole thing. It doesn’t deserve the 98% Rotten Tomato score at all. The environment establishing elements (from the excessive use of the N word to the fried chicken and grape drink) were too “on the nose”, I was cringing at times from the degree of stereotypes casually celebrated by people on Twitter. Also, when did blaxploitation become okay? Netflix cuts the check for a black producer and director and suddenly we cool with it? Ironically, the real life exploitation and perpetuation of black stereotypes cuts deeper than the anything the movie tried to evoke. The corporate and media hype machine is all on board (Variety, Huffpo, NYT, etc…) so most sane people will be gaslit into believing this was a “classic” but I’m not going for it. I rate it 5/10 at best. Hated the cheap film grain effect also 🤦🏽♂️
So you're saying the point of this movie just casually went right over your head? The stereotypes were the main point, it was supposed to be over the top because that's the message. Maybe you need to watch it again...
@@Sol-zv4wy the point of the movie was to bludgeon the audience with cliches and shallow un-developed themes… the message was half-baked.. they completely bombed the execution of an interesting premise
I agree! If I was watching this with someone non black I would be low key embarrassed b/c of the stereotypical fried chicken, and grape drink. The church and hair relaxer was a bit more not in your face with it b/c who relaxes there hair anymore ?? Lol but I do like that it is starting a conversation about the black community within the black community… even though by next week it’ll be forgotten! Much love 💕
I agree. It used alot of conspiracies that are already out there nothing really new or shocking if we being real. Also this movie mightve come out at the wrong time considering all we are already aware of maybe a 2011 release mightve hit harder ? Definitely some lazy writing but the acting was good, loved that you cant pin point the time period cause it essentially means history repeats itself. But yeah it just wasnt that good. Cute tho
I think the time period in this film is made to be ambiguous and feel like an alternate timeline where technology doesn’t happen at the same time as our reality. The style of clothing, the flip phones, the televisions mixed with the cloning technology and the mention of Book of Eli (cultural references spanning almost 30 years all exist together here in this reality as if modern) just seems like a world outside of time where things happened a little differently here.
I agree. I think they meant to cover a few time periods to imply that this type of mind control experimentation has been ongoing for decades now.
Yeah, it’s difficult to nail down the time period. There was “old” music playing, but also they were talking about bitcoin.
I think the vagueness is intentional - cause it doesn’t really matter 🤷🏽♀️
I feel like the town was cloned as well so they can watch them closely
Not really. Yo-yo has a talk with Slick about Blockchain and Bitcoin. That right there doesn’t make it difficult at all. Present day, 2010/2020s. Easy.
The Nancy Drew books were a subtle way of letting the audience know why Teyonah’s character went along so easily. 👍
She was my favorite character. ❤
😂This was low-key one of the most important and hilariously entertaining films of the year.
I wish it was a theatrical release.
Time moves differently in the hood so that aspect didn’t really bother me. You’ll have a 70s pimp-type driving his classic car, a caregiver Caribbean mom that somehow still has a flip phone, a conspiracy theory custodian that has all the Zeitgeist docs on VCR, young anime fans wearing SpongeBob merch… this is very normal in the hood or “postmodern” if you wanna be artsy about it.
Yeah, because of economic strife black folks can be ahead of and behind the times almost simultaneously.
On the heels of the controversy of the conspiracy theory of Jamie Foxx being cloned...
Yeah I was thinking the same thing ,something real fishy going on here😮
I really enjoyed this movie! I thought it was thought-provoking, fun and for a directorial debut quite impressive. I understand the critiques, but also seems like the resolution to them could’ve been a conceptualizing the concept into a television series. There’s just so much one can do with an idea and story like this.
Ok, so at first I thought it was a comedy as well, and then it became real...by actually paying attention to the subtext, it was interesting...and by the end all the people realized that they were stronger together
What subtext? 😂😂
Nick referencing John Witherspoon's rib shack in Friday after next is sending me 😭 😅😂 this film was very interesting. One and done viewing for me. Thanks for the review and all the best 💜
I try to guess if you guys liked a movie by what Joseph and Nick’s faces look like in the title image for the video.
“Grape Juice, fried chicken, and relaxer” 🤣
The beginning talked about blockchain and cryptocurrency so I think it’s intentionally ambiguous of the year it’s in. Like how ‘It Follows’ had different technologies from different generations coexisting subtly. You can’t plant your feet but you don’t totally question it, like a nightmare.
Well that was a great end to my fish jelly bomb day. Watched nine of your reviews back to back. Never get tired of them. Enjoy them all
As far a why they decided so easily to help Fontaine
To me it seemed like Fontaine and slick had a close relationship . He kept calling him OG & it felt like slick felt obligated for that reason
And it was hinted that even though they had a pimp/ho dynamic/ they cared for each other in a messed up way
And it also seemed like yo-yo was somewhat friends with Fontaine and it says she’s into them Nancy drew adventure books so she was down for a adventure basically
I think they also wanted to be somethin other then just a “pimp” and a “hoe”
Still kinda doesnt feel earned in the movie though.... i was stuck on that the whooole time like whyyyyy help him? Anyway
@@sedi2066because its an extremely dumb movie. They had to write this script in an hour
It seemed huh? 😂😂😂
This was the first time I've ever appreciated a performance by John Boyega. I did an ugly cry during the scene after he breaks down the door to his mom's room and Junebug shows up talking about SpongeBob and they share Capri Suns. This film was giving me The Spook Who Sat by the Door crossed with Moon with Sam Rockwell.
You two are interesting and I like some of your perspectives. I watched from a different viewpoint. The reason you can’t really pinpoint the time. Because is purposefully ambiguous. It’s showing you how long this has been happening. From the 70s to present day. There’s so much being displayed, the site he has between himself, or at least a version of himself. The fact that he knows what’s going on. I can’t do anything about it, so he tries to go back to live in the way he had always lived, but now it’s too difficult. I think you guys should have more conversations and then we watch the movie. Wishing you all the best.
I think it was good, just took longer than it needed to really get interesting to me. I think if Brian Tyree Henry (like was originally supposed to be in the role) played Fontaine maybe it would've worked better in the beginning. My biggest issue that made it feel sluggish was the inability to care about the main character.
Awesome review ! Y’all made me wanna watch it !!
I turned it off after 40 minutes it was trash!
@@jamalwright2854Hmm… you must be one of those clones 🤔😂
@@jamalwright2854….your loss..
Absolutely loved the review. Hit on so many key points, whether excelling or lacking. Thank you ✨
Kinda reminds me of Black Dynamite's Anaconda Malt Liquor subplot. I loved Kiefer Sutherland as the Strangers' co-conspirator in Dark City, channeling Bela Lugosi's Ygor from Bride of Frankenstein.
The director said they make liquor subplot was purposeful and there are Easter eggs ❤
2.5/5 - wow! It deserved more than a three surely.
…yeah, I’m 3.5-4..
So glad you guys brought up sorry to bother you literally one of my fav movies!
Very interested in this film. Will watch once it's released on Friday I believe.
This reminded me of an elevated Undercover Brother.
Wonderful review, guys! This movie sounds like an interesting watch - it is probably going to be one of my weekend choices.😊
15:13 not just that, but his mom was literally not there. I think it’s also a commentary on the single mother epidemic in the black community, and how single mothers can’t even be physically present when they have to work just to live and provide for their kidsZ
Definitely had this review in my "Watch Later " and rushed over once I saw the film.
Everytime Kiefer Sutherland plays a "less than favorable" character, I call him "Bob" from Free Way😄
If this was a series I would have liked a lot more explored.
This reminds me of the MK Ultra lsd incident in the 1950's where the government was dosing people on the nyc subways via aerosol & surfaces. I'll definitely be watching this.
Look up the Tuskegee Experiments, which is what it reminded me of
@Sol-zv4wy yes, I'm definitely aware of that tragedy. It was abhorrent. PBS did a must watch doc a few years back.
Also the crack epidemic and the recent law suits surrounding relaxer creams
@Nick-ql2qj i know the Crack epidemic was a major injustice to people of color perpetuated by the government. Meanwhile, White users of powder received a lesser sentence, especially harsh in cali, due to the 3 strikes law. I just looked up the relaxer cream controversy, so thank you. Of course, the 'news' isn't really reporting it. Also, most toilet paper contains formaldehyde, which causes cancer. And Flint still has toxic water. It's such a mess in here in the US.
Thank you for always bringing up sorry to bother you it makes me sad no one talks about it!
It's a mixed story using Ira Levin themes: "Stepford Wives" (mind control), "Boys from Brazil" (clones) and "Sliver" (being watched by cameras) but in the urban neighborhoods; I knew it about Fontaine's mother... oh, and by the way, "Schizophrenia and Capitalism", the "Anti Oedipus" is from Deleuze-Guattari philosophers
Hey, sounds like just my thing! Thanks guys!
I came for the shirts. I always do 😅
Did enjoy the film, It did give me 70's vibe but then they mentioned 911 and other references. I don't think this is too far fetched from reality, as regards to technology scrolling on our phones, buying things we don't really need, plastic surgery, a lot of celebs look the same... I did wonder why Kefier Character did not say the safe word when everyone broke in to save saver her.
Im still unclear on why Fontaine's LA clone was renamed Tyrone in the last scene, a clone would remember his real name is Fontaine. And if he was a clone, shouldn't the title be They Cloned Fontaine?
Nope because in the whole film you're thinking who the hell is Tyrone. Only till you stay till the end is when you find out he isn't even the original, not even Tyrone is the original. It's just showing you how deep it may go. I believe even the geneticist is a clone, but also programmed to do what his job is posted. Remember in the movie, when they come out fresh from the pods, they are programmed to think whatever is shown on the screen they are being shown.
The older version of Fontaine was the original. Tyrone was just another clone. They mentioned they’d been cloning in LA, Chicago and Detroit. In this case I assume the clones have different names in different cities.
This was also a reference b/c Tyrone is like a name that white people and even black people refer to black men …as in there “all alike”
@@E1evenDegreesalso I feel like they can make different ages of clones like they’re making them another race
@@MaryJaneMusic17 wait when did they make them or explain making them a different race? Now I need to go back & watch it again lol
The time period was modern day the character was stuck in different era's
This movie was quite interesting. I paid more attention to the messages in this movie than anything else.
Also, unrelated film tangent here so scroll on if uninterested, but you guys talking about how this film would be interesting in modern times with tik tok and all that brought me to an idea I always discuss with my brother about the film The Truman Show. He said he wanted an updated version in todays technological world, and I argued that it wouldn’t be as realistic and would actually take away unless they placed Truman in a bubble society without the social media and the outside world watching did have it. That would be interesting to see. How the outside world compared a present life seemingly stuck in the past to their own. Would make for a great commentary.
Yay! I made it!!! ❤😊
This sounds fun and compelling, I'll probably watch this one 👍
I love films that take place in an ambiguous time period. Cool!
I really enjoyed this movie, I did think it was a tad too long but it was definitely a fun watch with good characters and lots of twists and turns.
"Straighter Is Greater "
I'll watch this. I like John, Jamie, and Teyonah.
I keep waiting for you to review God Is A Bullet. Did you see it?
Nick already wrote about it: www.fishjellyfilms.com/reviews-main/god-is-a-bullet
Nick really brought up JDs Revenge!!! Omg I need to put some Respekt on your name.
Watching on July 21st hopefully- been waiting for this 😊 --lol I just watched JD’s revenge 😅
Great analysis of the film. The idea behind it definitely seemed to only scratch the surface, which was disappointing because it had so many potentially interesting elements in it. Maybe it could have worked better as a series that explored each subplot further. And the inconsistency in tone got to me as well.
Perhaps my bigger gripe with the film was that it didn’t seem to have much heart in it, so I didn’t feel connected to an my of the characters. Perhaps that was intentional, but it didn’t help my experience watching it
Edit: spelling
7:44 I mean they saw him get shot and come back to life with their own eyes so lol I don’t see why they would need much convincing that something was wrong
Mind control by choice 🤔 makes you say, “hmmm”
Paused at the intro to say I'll be watching this movie only if the score is above 2.5
Can y’all do the tutor next lol
This movie had some moments that had me laughing out loud. If they had leaned more on the comedy and chopped some scenes shorter, there's a potential masterpiece of a film in here. But I still enjoyed it overall, the main cast is great.
Low IQ ☝️
The name of this movie made me cackle so loud😂 Great review guys, I'll definitely watch this one.
I liked it....I have seen some awful movies the year😮 LoL.....finally one I liked!!
Thank you for your review. Love you guys as always I finally got to see this movie. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It reminded me of undercover Brother.
I’m excited to give this a watch! Keizer Sutherland played (what sounds like) a similar role in Dark City. Cheers!
Is this is the Cinemas?
Nope just on netflix
This movie was so damn entertaining !!! Jamie foxx is a damn national treasure
Saw this tonight, and I thoroughly agree that it should have been cut by 30 to 40 minutes. I think it would’ve made the film almost perfect.
I loved it
It gave me the same plot like as black dynamite and i wasnt into it and it wasnt as funny as i prefer . very whatever but i do like the angle of the film just feels like something that has been done before.
Yay!
I think the movie was in present day but everyone that was cloned n that’s almost everyone would’ve been stuck in the timeframe that they died so it’s showing timeframes from multiple times but I think it’s based in present day
Was also really confused on the time period considering Yo Yo mentions crypto and blockchain in her first appearance.
Good movie but no obstacle that really makes it interesting. They could've played more with it.
Good flick
No wonder you both feel this is has a *captivating story* The second everyone's mental capabilities is 'tuned to' to the sameness frequency...a unique sense of humor could be 'deleted' in the next generation clone? So, perhaps for people who may not think 'testings' like these happen...here's a movie narrative 😅
Gentlemen!..Thanks Much !.......=
- Just finished the film. I like it but it was way to long.
the channel review please😅🙏🏻
god is bullet please😅
Hated it! 😂 y’all are modern men on film
I really wanted to love this film. But it had so many negative Black racist stereotypes in this film. The characters are drug dealers, drug user, forty ounce malt liquor drinkers, pimps and prostitutes. To poison our communities the government put poison in fry chicken. To enjoy the film you have to ignore all of this negativity
You just might be missing the point, no disrespect.
I'm excited to see this but sad that it's only another empty virtue signaling sounding film instead of a good movie that took advantage of a good opportunity to be great. :/
now you've watched it what do you think?
the visuals of this movie were so bad. it was highly distracting. music was good.
I really wanted to like the movie but I was rolling my eyes throughout the whole thing. It doesn’t deserve the 98% Rotten Tomato score at all.
The environment establishing elements (from the excessive use of the N word to the fried chicken and grape drink) were too “on the nose”, I was cringing at times from the degree of stereotypes casually celebrated by people on Twitter.
Also, when did blaxploitation become okay? Netflix cuts the check for a black producer and director and suddenly we cool with it? Ironically, the real life exploitation and perpetuation of black stereotypes cuts deeper than the anything the movie tried to evoke.
The corporate and media hype machine is all on board (Variety, Huffpo, NYT, etc…) so most sane people will be gaslit into believing this was a “classic” but I’m not going for it. I rate it 5/10 at best. Hated the cheap film grain effect also 🤦🏽♂️
So you're saying the point of this movie just casually went right over your head? The stereotypes were the main point, it was supposed to be over the top because that's the message. Maybe you need to watch it again...
@@Sol-zv4wy the point of the movie was to bludgeon the audience with cliches and shallow un-developed themes…
the message was half-baked.. they completely bombed the execution of an interesting premise
I agree! If I was watching this with someone non black I would be low key embarrassed b/c of the stereotypical fried chicken, and grape drink. The church and hair relaxer was a bit more not in your face with it b/c who relaxes there hair anymore ?? Lol but I do like that it is starting a conversation about the black community within the black community… even though by next week it’ll be forgotten! Much love 💕
I agree. It used alot of conspiracies that are already out there nothing really new or shocking if we being real. Also this movie mightve come out at the wrong time considering all we are already aware of maybe a 2011 release mightve hit harder ? Definitely some lazy writing but the acting was good, loved that you cant pin point the time period cause it essentially means history repeats itself. But yeah it just wasnt that good. Cute tho