Premature
Directed by: Rashaad Ernesto Green
Written by: Rashaad Ernesto Green & Zora Howard
Starring: Zora Howard, Joshua Boone, Michelle Wilson, Alexis Marie Wint, Imani Lewis, Tashiana Washington
Drama/Music/Romance - 90 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 26 Feb 2020
Written by: Rashaad Ernesto Green & Zora Howard
Starring: Zora Howard, Joshua Boone, Michelle Wilson, Alexis Marie Wint, Imani Lewis, Tashiana Washington
Drama/Music/Romance - 90 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 26 Feb 2020
Relationships are all about timing. You may have the most electric chemistry in the world, but they may have a significant other right now, or one of you is moving out of town, or another obstacle created by a million other things obstructs the magnetism. Folks who preach fate, destiny, and that your soul mate will always be available when you inevitably meet them take the easy way out. Life could never be that simple. Director and co-writer Rashaad Ernesto Green sparks a relationship between his characters and invites the audience to watch how it strengthens and weakens depending on how external stimuli and internal motivations push it around. Creating a “will they or won’t they make it" situation as both time and various peer pressures poke at them make the bond between young Ayanna and Isaiah an intriguing one to watch.
You know the conversations. Most likely one of the first few talks you had with a prospective long-term interest morphed into a meandering, fluid conversation where everything from future plans to Star Wars pops up. The duo rambles, shuffles along pathways, and without malicious intent, parses answers to life’s chaotic questions to form an opinion on whether or not the two individuals have the potential to create a couple. Ayanna (Zora Howard) and Isaiah (Joshua Boone) feel each other out over the course of a few of these dialogues. She’s checking on his intentions; he’s confirming his initial suspicions there is more to this girl than initial physical attraction.
You know the conversations. Most likely one of the first few talks you had with a prospective long-term interest morphed into a meandering, fluid conversation where everything from future plans to Star Wars pops up. The duo rambles, shuffles along pathways, and without malicious intent, parses answers to life’s chaotic questions to form an opinion on whether or not the two individuals have the potential to create a couple. Ayanna (Zora Howard) and Isaiah (Joshua Boone) feel each other out over the course of a few of these dialogues. She’s checking on his intentions; he’s confirming his initial suspicions there is more to this girl than initial physical attraction.
Ayanna has emotional depth. She scribbles poems in her notebook whenever the moment strikes her. Ayanna also has a future. She is off to Bucknell in the fall. The move to college is not that far from her Harlem homestead, but it’s far enough removed from the city that it will feel like leaving it all behind. Even though we are in Harlem, this is not a film about poverty and once-in-a-lifetime chances. Ayanna could easily defer Bucknell or switch schools and be just fine. Green says it felt like radical filmmaking to set a story in Harlem, feature an African-America cast, but remove the pressures we all associate with the location. This is not Ayanna’s one chance to break out of a life which will crush her lest she escape. She could stay home and still have options.
It’s never quantified, but there is an age difference between Ayanna and Isaiah. She is most likely just on the legal side of 18 while he, operating from his own apartment and apparently somewhat established, feels like he is borderline mid-20s. Isaiah never treats Ayanna as a foolish schoolgirl, but he brings experience to the relationship as well as a foggy past. During a high-point, cruise control portion in their courtship, a girl walks into Isaiah’s apartment, obviously familiar with the environment, and she’s caucasian. This little fact never popped up between musical tastes and favorite cereal. Is Isaiah to be trusted? What level of commitment is he looking at?
Ayanna isn’t a naive waif though. She wears her outside, armored facade on the train with her friends and practices her more introverted tendencies with Isaiah. I lack the poetic acumen to weigh in on whether Ayanna’s verses are only meaningful to her or carry a weight to catch wider attention, but lines like, “Open my eyes - I don’t know where you begin and I end,” seem to reveal a girl exploring her first real-world, romantic encounter, one with far more tributaries and offshoots than a run-of-the-mill, one night stand end point.
Isaiah seems earnest enough. He interrupts their first, hesitant physical congress to play music. He respects the situation and isn’t looking to check a box and certainly does not give off the impression he will notch a post. This isn’t fleeting, it may even resemble the dying art of romance. Green shot Premature on the cheap, under $500,000, and caught the attention of the Independent Spirit Awards, an organization who celebrates intrepid filmmakers with shoestring budgets. Green earned their “Someone to Watch” Award. Premature’s quality is evidence enough Rashaad Ernesto Green is certainly a filmmaker to expect something from. So is Zora Howard. Her portrayal of Ayanna is fully committed and a clear deep-dive into a deep character. There is nothing premature about her skill.
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