BLUF
Emmett Till's story is an outrage, part of our long dark history of racism. His mother, Mamie Till Mobley, is a civil rights hero who fought for justice for her son, and to make sure that his story was told.
The movie has some tremendous performances, foremost Danielle Deadwyler's. However it came off as painfully didactic. A worthy subject, but the script does not live up to the material nor to the talents of the cast.
Plot
Spoilers
Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African-American boy from Chicago, who went to Mississippi to visit his cousins. While there he was abducted, tortured, and lynched.
The movie is Mamie's story, and is largely told from her perspective. The opening scene is a masterful moment for Deadwyler, as we see that a happy sing-a-long she's sharing with Emmett masks her fear for his safety in his upcoming trip to visit his cousins in Money, Mississippi.
Mamie fights for justice for Emmett, using her connections to get his body brought to Chicago, insisting on an open casket, testifying at the trial of his murderers, and fighting for anti-lynching laws.
Thoughts
Deadwyler is terrific, and so is Sean Patrick Thomas, Tosin Cole, and many others. These great performances could not mask numerous moments of dialogue that were purely didactic, and often stilted, too.
Powerful material and great performances, but the stilted lecturing of the dialogue left me thinking I'd have rather spent that time reading about Mamie and Emmett.