Saturday Church

A teenage black male (Luka Cain) who just lost his father struggles to find his sexual identity in the urban jungle that is New York City. His journey is further complicated by a mom who is too busy working; a pious, verbally-abusive aunt and caretaker; a snitching 8-year-old brother; and bully male classmates.

At its core, Saturday Church is a touching coming-of-age drama/musical (I think) that despite its flaws, does a great job at tugging at the heartstrings of viewers. However, after having seen other LGBTQ films over the past few years such as Moonlight and Blackbird, I find Saturday Church to be very unpolished by comparison in a number of areas.

First off, dealing with such taboo subject matter, the tone is obviously very heavy and uncomfortable at times. And that's OK because this is what we deal with in the LGBTQ community. However, there are times when this very effective tone is abruptly disrupted by musical numbers which seem out of place here. This film could easily have worked without the musical scenes. To me, it's as if the creators of the film couldn't decide if they wanted to make this a full on musical or not so they just threw in a few musical scenes as a compromise. I wish they would have committed one way or the other as it's very obvious they couldn't.

Additionally, the script was very dry and awkward in places. The acting and dialogue suffered as a result, although I must commend the cast because everyone was at least good. Now imagine how great the acting could have been if the material was airtight. That said, Luka Kain did an excellent job here, and I will be looking forward to seeing him in other roles as he grows in the film industry.

Anyway, the biggest thing this film has going for it (other than the cast) is it accurately details the real-life story of so many LGBTQ individuals in the United States (if not dramatically). LGBTQ often struggle and fight to be who they are in a society, where even today, we are sometimes seen as outcasts and treated as such. Thankfully, the tides are turning, but IMHO, not fast enough. However, films like Saturday Church and the aforementioned Moonlight and Blackbird are shedding light on the subject, and for that alone, it scores big in my heart.

This movie was beautiful. It's a story about feeling right in your own skin, taking risks in your quest for happiness, and finding your people. The moving story of Ulysses coming to terms with his identity in New York City is imaginatively intertwined with song and dance. The music serves as a vehicle to give voice to the hidden world inside the characters. It is enchanting, visually enticing, heartbreaking, and empowering. The cast is also wonderfully talented and deeply connected to this personal story. We rarely get such realistic and rounded stories of queer experience in cinema, but Saturday Church breaks the standard and reveals at its core a story that many unheard voices can relate to.

I has seen the Saturday Church trailer on IMDb two months or so ago, and was intrigued. However, after seeing it's release date in January, I was cautious to expect grandeur. In some aspects, my caution proved true. The dialogue and acting in parts was off beat and awkward, and certain mood shifts (especially with musical numbers) made the seams of this film all the more noticeable.

However, you could feel the love in every scene and character. Each cast and crew put their heart into this project. That's the most important part in creation. And while the musical scenes cause a bump in the film, as they continued they didn't feel out of place anymore. This movie is of course about drag culture, and the black LGBTQ youth and community. Theatrics aren't awkward or forced, they're innate to those communities.

I saw this film the day after Call Me By Your Name. And while it may be unfair to compare the two, as they are vastly different and cover different subject matters, I will say that Saturday Church fully exceeded CMBYN, in style, tone, and joy.

I would like to see this crew turn out a film with more resources and support for their visions, because I believe they are on their way to being great filmmakers.

I gave this film 7/10 because of technical reasons. A seamless film brings the audience deeper into the story and, unfortunately, this movie wasn't seamless. But I'd highly recommend that everyone see this movie.

Saturday Church (2017) was written and directed by Damon Cardasis. It stars Luka Kain as Ulysses, a young gay African-American man who would like to be a cross dresser. He's tormented and bullied in school, and verbally abused at home by his aunt, who takes care of him.

Ulysses finds Saturday Church, a place where gay men can express their identity, and where most of the members can, and do, cross dress safely. Saturday Church introduces Ulysses to the voguing scene, and the film gives us plenty of music to hear and voguing to watch.

It's discouraging that we still need places like Saturday Church, but at least they are there. (There really is a Saturday Church in NYC.)

I enjoyed this film because of the great performance by Luka Kain. (Performance in the sense of acting, as well as performance in the sense of voguing.) To a certain extent, it opened a window to the world of drag queens. It also reminded me that, even in 2017, in the United States, it still isn't easy being openly gay. I think that all of us need that reminder.

We saw this movie at Rochester's great Little Theatre, as part of the wonderful ImageOut, the LGBT Film Festival. It won't work as well on the small screen, but it's still worth finding it and watching it.

Beautifully filmed, beautifully tracked, and beautifully cast. Anyone who has any major critiques of this film seems to be homophobic and transphobic. Praying that love enters their hearts!