I wouldn’t necessarily call romance films my usual movie-going fare.
I wouldn’t call myself a cynic exactly, but I’ve always found the basic plot of most romance films pretty… dubious to say the least. You know the one: the meet-cute between two conventionally attractive leads with opposing viewpoints on love/work/baseball/small towns/dogs/Christmas/etc. and their unresolved sexual tension, followed by the slow montage where they fall in love. Of course, the next thing we see is the moment that those opposing viewpoints become insurmountable, leading to the subsequent differing priorities breakup. Without fail, however, we will next witness the moment they fall back together, and the final resolution and happily-ever-after.
That having been said, if you mention watching Notting Hill to me, I’ll be there. The number of times that I’ve watched Love Actually is honestly embarrassing. And, in full disclosure, practically all of the recent Netflix rom-coms have passed through my queue one way or another. So when I first saw a trailer for The Photograph, I knew that I would watch the film, if not for the romance, then at least for the opportunity to see two Black leads fall in love.
In 2020, Hollywood is finally starting to understand the need for films that are as diverse and inclusive as the audiences that watch them, (even if award shows like the Oscars rarely celebrate as much). Part of the magic of Stella Meghie’s The Photograph is not just that it’s a poignant film about love and loss, but that it allows two people of color to be involved in a simple love story. No muss, no fuss, with a Nicholas Sparks-esque love-at-first-sight meeting minus the extra tears that make up the genre’s usual fare.
The Photograph stars Issa Rae (Insecure, The Lovebirds) as Mae Morton, a successful (and fashionable) museum curator and the daughter of the famous photographer, Christina Eames, (Chante Adams). Christina is recently deceased and leaves behind a complicated legacy for her daughter to inherit regarding love, leaving, and being the one left behind. Mae and Christina had a difficult relationship that led her daughter to question if her mother ever really loved her.
The question of love and how we live with it is the central driving force behind the film as it skips between modern New York and Louisiana some 30 years prior. LaKeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You, Atlanta, Knives Out) plays opposite Rae as a talented feature journalist Michael Block, a man with his own romantic hang-ups who just so happens to be writing about the life and work of Mae Morton’s mother, Christina. Stanfield’s Block travels to Louisiana to interview a fisherman named Isaac, (Rob Morgan), the ex-boyfriend Christina left behind to pursue her dreams in New York.
The titular photograph that the film centers around is an image of Christina. In the photo, Christina is sitting at a table, appearing almost to lean away from the camera. The photo was taken by Isaac back in Louisiana. It’s a beautiful shot, but the recalcitrance of its subject is palpable, and for good reason: Christina left for New York the very next morning.
Mae receives the photograph and an accompanying letter as a posthumous apology from her mother, and she refers to it throughout the film at her most emotionally vulnerable moments. While the film could have done more to explore the dynamic between the two, the silent ache on Mae’s face each time she holds her mother’s words is enough to provide the audience with an understanding of their relationship.
The film jumps between the previous tragedy of Christina and Isaac’s love story and the current hope of Mae and Michael’s burgeoning romance. Mae and Michael are both intelligent, young, successful, (and really, really attractive) Black twenty-somethings making a name for themselves in their respective careers, each entirely aware of their baggage, but not entirely sure what to do with it. When the two fall for each other, the audience, recognizing the abandonment issues that began in Mae’s childhood with her mother, is burdened with the knowledge that Michael has recently applied for a job in London.
The Photograph deploys the usage of an excellent soundtrack (hellooo, Al Green, Ari Lennox, Jamilla Woods, and Anita Baker), easy chemistry between its two leads, and impassioned performances by two of the best actors in Hollywood to tell the story of what happens when we decide to give love a chance.