SLIFF 2019 Review – PREMATURE

PREMATURE will screen at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar) Tuesday, Nov 12 at 7:15pm as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival.Ticket information can be found HERE

On a summer night in Harlem during her last months at home before starting college, 17-year-old poet Ayanna (co-writer Zora Howard) meets Isaiah (Joshua Boone), a charming music producer who has just moved to the city. It’s not long before these two artistic souls are drawn together in a passionate summer romance. But as the highs of young love give way to jealousy, suspicion, and all-too-real consequences, Ayanna must confront the complexities of the adult world — whether she is ready or not. Emotionally raw, intimate, and honest, “Premature” — directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green — is at once timeless and bracingly contemporary in its portrait of a young woman navigating the difficult choices that can shape a life. When “Premature” screened at the respected Black Harvest Film Festival, the Chicago Reader called it “one of the year’s best films,” declaring it “the crown jewel” of the fest and calling Howard “incandescent.”

Review by Žiga Kastelic

On a summer night during her last days in Harlem before going to college, a young poet Ayanna (Zora Howard) meets Isaiah (Joshua Boone). He is a music producer who has  just moved in the city. The two are drawn together and quickly fall in love. But a young love often doesnt last as it gives space to jealousy and over-thinking.

Our movie pair is as different as it gets. Ayanna is not very talkative but writes beautiful poetry. Isaiah on the other hand is as loud as it gets and he is the one we most connect to. But still the maturity and the part of growing up you can see in Ayanna is portrayed almost perfectly. How can one inocent love affect your life before it even begins? The director Rashaad Ernesto Green does a great job at showing us how the two fall in love and the stories we can follow. The passion, love, desire and will to please one another apparent at the begining, with suspicion, jelaousy and falling out of love at the end. Green co-wrote the movie with Zora Howard and they both do great jobs There are some parts where the movie lacks something. The third act doesnt feel as natural as I hoped but that is a little nitpick.

PREMATURE is probably one of the best this year. Its a coming of age movie that you should see. All the actors do  fantastic jobs and the future is bright for them. You can see the beauty of Harlem through the main pair and how music can help young people growing up. That first love we all wanted to have or had is shown nearly to perfection. You feel everything they are going through and you can say that it makes you miss the ex you never had.