The path to living as one’s authentic self is paved with trials and tribulations in this revelatory, assured feature debut by Dee Rees—the all-too-rare coming-of-age tale to honestly represent the experiences of queer Black women. Grounded in the fine-grained specificity and deft characterizations of Rees’s script and built around a beautifully layered performance from Adepero Oduye, Pariah follows Brooklyn teenager Alike, who is dealing with the emotional minefields of both first love and heartache and the disapproval of her family as she navigates the expression of her gender and sexual identities within a system that does not make space for them. Achieving an aching intimacy with its subject through the expressive cinematography of Bradford Young, this deeply felt portrait finds strength in vulnerability and liberation in letting go.
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Supplements
- New conversation between director Dee Rees and filmmaker and scholar Michelle Parkerson
- New cast reunion featuring Dee Rees, Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell, and Aasha Davis, moderated by scholar Jacqueline Stewart
- New program on the making of the film, featuring Dee Rees, cinematographer Bradford Young, production designer Inbal Weinberg, producerNekisa Cooper, and editor Mako Kamitsuna, moderated by Jacqueline Stewart
- New interview with film scholar Kara Keeling, author of Queer Times, Black Futures
- An essay by critic Cassie da Costa