A small group of black students at a majority white Ivy League school try to find their place and fight for their identity in this quite intelligent little comedy. Tessa Thompson, as the biracial hostess of the titular radio show, which stirs up a lot of turmoil on campus, and Tyler James Williams, as a homosexual black student who feels he doesn't fit in with the rest of the African American students, are the standouts, but the whole cast is excellent (Dennis Haybert is the most recognizable face here). The issues here are very complex, and Simien weaves an appropriately complex story filled with strong characters (except for perhaps the main white villain, Kyle Gallner, and the bland, nice white boy Thompson is sexually involved with secretly, Justin Dobies). It doesn't quite gel into something as strong as it could be, but its ambition certainly puts Mr. Simien on the list of directors (and writers; obviously this is an original screenplay by him) to watch. I'm fairly confident he'll make even better films in the future.
Review of Dear White People
