The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster

Not bad and it wasn't too far from being really, really good.

I love the first act. No rush, it gives us the right background of the main characters, the neighbourhood, and their difficulties and motivations. I also really like what it does in the third act. Violent, tie up loose ends, and close arcs with meaning. I have several issues with the second act.

Most of my problems in the second act revolve around the difficulty in varying something from the moment "the event" occurs and the excessive educational/doctrinal speeches that exist. When the main character does it in the beginning, it seems genuine, an act of rebellion, and affirmation, it makes sense. When several other supporting characters do it throughout the movie, in an even more obvious way, it becomes a bit too much. Not everyone in a neighbourhood behaves, thinks, and speaks in the same way, and it ends up sounding more like the writer's voice than the voices of those characters.

There are also some issues with the editing and sound, with some cuts and sound effects that seem for a straight-to-DVD release, but nothing too serious, because the director knows where he wants to go and does a very good job on his debut, with some interesting shots, and starting with the identity it gives to that community from the first act.

In terms of performances, I feel that there are weaknesses in some of the supporting cast, but Laya Hayes is fantastic. She was able to carry the whole film on her shoulders, with several behavioural and emotional nuances, and it's easy to predict a promising future career for her. A star, for sure.

Overall, a very interesting debut feature, filled with good ideas, bringing something new to the table and to the "Frankenstein concept", which could have been brilliant if it was more polished.

I really did. The cast is uniformly very good to excellent. The lead (the "angry black girl" if you will), Laya DeLeon Hayes, gives a performance that is warm, human, funny, intense; her range is there. The rest of the cast was great with particular props for. Denzel Whittaker, Tracie Frank, and. Chad L. Coleman as standouts for me.

Now for the rest. The direction was spotty but decent. The cinematography was bizarre - the outdoor shots were often actually gorgeous; however, the indoor shots were awkward and sitcom-y, often to the point of taking this viewer out of the moment. Now for the script. This group of extremely talented, mostly young actors deserved so much more. There was no explanation for why anything happened (can't say too much without spoiling the plot). The dialogue started strong but kind of fell flat about halfway through. It's possible editing is to blame for some or even most of that.

All in all, it's a not-unpleasant but disappointing way to blow off some time, but it will leave you wishing for what could have been - because it could have been great.

Death is a disease and Vicaria (Laya DeLeon Hayes) intends to cure it. The black teenage genius comes from a rough neighborhood where drugs and death is all around. When her brother is killed, she puts her theory to use.

This is obviously trying to adapt Mary Shelley's Frankenstein into a modern 'ghetto'. There are moments of good tension. I actually find the school more compelling than the monster story. The 'monster' does not have enough screen time. Brother and sister should have more time together before and after the transformation. This movie needs to be about their relationship. The most interesting monster performance is Kango. The father is also interesting. This movie has a few good moments and probably a fine elevator pitch. It struggles to hold together in the second half.

For an independently produced movie, this was well done.

They mention she has a German last name but won't tell us... she's obsessed with death. But why don't they tell us the name? Oh....... and her notebook is called "modern Prometheus" I get it now.

I love the restraint the filmmakers used in saving the line "It's alive! It's Alive!" when they did and giving it Aishia instead of the main character.

My biggest complaint is that Vicaria wasn't allowed to be "Mad" in Mad Scientist and makeup of for the monster wasn't strong. Chad Colman as the father character was the strongest character and my eyes were glued to the screen when ever he appeared.

This COULD have been great, it really could have. Maybe it just needed an extra 10 or 15 minutes to flesh out Vicaria & Chris' relationship, to SHOW us how close they were rather than just tell us. Maybe it needed to show a bit more of Vicaria's school life, to show us just how much of a genius she is rather than just tell us. Whatever it's lacking, it's not lacking much of it tbh.

While, yes, it IS a retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, it's also more than just that. It's a story of familial bonds, and how far one young woman will go to keep those bonds alive. It's a story that gives the Creature a better chance at finding the familial love that Shelley's Creature was so cruelly denied. It's a story that doesn't just update the source material to fit our current world, but also updates the hope within.

Denzel Whitaker puts in a solid performance as Kango, the local drug lord; Keith Holliday is equally good as Kango's second, Jamaal; Chad Coleman is REALLY good in his limited screen time as Vicaria's dad, Donald; but Laya DeLeon Hayes is the real star (as she should be, playing the lead role) as Vicaria, the strong, determined young woman fighting to revive her brother and thereby restore her family.

Honestly one of the best adaptations of Mary Shelley's iconic novel I've ever seen.