Till is a biographical drama directed by Chinonye Chukwu starring Danielle Deadwyler.
Premise
Fourteen year-old Emmet Till travels from Chicago to Mississippi on vacation to spend time with relatives. Tragedy strikes as young Emmet is beaten and shot to death by white supremacists, and his body is thrown into a river. Mamie Till Mobley, his mother, will relentlessly pursue justice. Till insists on showing the world what atrocity has been committed, first by allowing the media to publish images of her sons severely mutilated body, then fighting for justice to be served to the killers.
Movie Review
A movie that brings us the story of Till’s fight for justice. It is impossible not to be moved by this movie, and being a story that is based on real life events, it successfully conveys its purpose, or purposes. To bring the story up and close to people, and to document this woman’s pursuit and legacy.
Carrying the entire movie along is the performance by Danielle Deadwyler, after all we are witnessing the story from the perspective of Mamie Till. Deadwyler gets into the character and brings her onto film convincingly, and effectively captures to then relay the spectrum of emotions of both a grieving mother, and a smart woman who with contained outrage (well knowing she has to handle the situation with savoir faire) has a very clear mission.
Despite not being a big production it counts on a good mise-en-scรจne that teleports us to the 1950’s U.S., both in Chicago and then Mississippi. The photography has good moments, with some crisp close-ups, and at times artistic takes playing with the lighting and silhouettes. Its tempo is measured, bringing into relief how arduous Till’s journey must have been, while closer to the end of the movie it speeds up a notch culminating with Mamie Till’s emotive speech.
Our Opinion
It is not a big production, but has a clear and strong intention pushing it through, especially elevated by the solid performance by Danielle Deadwyler. This is a drama movie in its purest form, and as mentioned before, it is with the intent of telling and documenting a true life tragedy and the subsequent pursuit for justice, which will inevitably aim straight for the hearts, and minds.
Release Date
November 14, 2022
Other Reviews
“Deadwyler’s performance holds you through the tragedy and injustice of ‘Till’ (…) Much of it is simply a matter of patience and observation, skills that speak to Chukwu’s knack for art-film technique”
Justin Chang: Los Angeles Times
“A notorious civil-rights story, recast through a mother’s eyes (…) An affecting drama, with a breakout turn by actress Danielle Deadwyler”
Leah Greenblatt: Entertainment Weekly
Direcciรณn
Chinonye Chukwu
Cast
 Danielle Deadwyler / Mamie Till-Mobley |  Jalyn Hall / Emmett Till |  Frankie Faison / John Carthan |
 Haley Bennett / Carolyn Bryant |  John Douglas Thompson / Moses Wright |  Whoopi Goldberg / Alma |
 Jayme Lawson / Myrlie Evers |  Tosin Cole / Medgar Evers |  Kevin Carroll / Rayfield Mooty |
See full credits >>
