Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
The true story of Mamie Till Mobley's relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi.
Till (2022) is anchored by a towering performance from Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till Mobley, whose emotional range and physical commitment to the role is genuinely exceptional and carries the film. The true story is harrowing and important, but the screenplay treads fairly conventional biopic and historical drama territory, hitting expected beats without much structural invention. Cinematography is competent and period-appropriate but not particularly distinctive. The subject matter of Emmett Till's murder and its civil rights significance gives the film weight, but as a cinematic telling it doesn't radically distinguish itself from other justice-driven historical dramas. The ending, rooted in the real-life open-casket decision and its historical resonance, is emotionally powerful but somewhat foregone given audience foreknowledge of events.