Is God Is - God said "Spin the Block!"

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[00:01:13] What's up, friends? Welcome back again to Recap Kickback. It's me, your host Chappell, back again to talk to you about another week in black entertainment TV and our feature presentation here, Is God Is. And with me to talk about this movie that was definitely her suggestion. Uh, but a great suggestion I would say. Uh, it's Mari Forth. Mari, welcome back. Yes, we're back. We are talking about Is God Is. It was my suggestion, but I did not like the way you said that. That's fine. That's fine.

[00:01:43] No. Great. Uh, okay, good. Good. Um, yeah, no, this was, this was fun. This was fun. Um, I'm, I'm going to stay in the movie theaters apparently because of this show, which is great. Uh, but I love talking about like black ass media and this is, this is exactly it. Yeah, it's exactly what we're talking about. This is why we came up with Recap Kickback to talk about the black stuff that sometimes people aren't talking about enough.

[00:02:12] And so I want to thank everybody for pulling up and kicking it with us. Once again, we've got a lot going on right now on Recap Kickback. So before we jump into today's episode, got some love, uh, to show about what's happening around here. Of course, if you haven't already been keeping up with the flavor of love content, Chantel Francise and I are still making our way through charm school every Sunday at roughly one Eastern, you know, CP time, you take, take that for what it is. Uh, but live nonetheless.

[00:02:41] And so, uh, keep up with what we have going on over there. Uh, all the drama, all the goods, all the shenanigans, and it's Chantel's first time. So if you want to see somebody's raw reaction to charm school or the entire flavor of love cinematic universe, make sure you catch all of that. Also, if you've been enjoying the content and asking, how can you support show? Uh, you can now send tips directly through YouTube during our lives and premieres. Uh, every bit of support helps as, uh, growing the podcast and trying to get us more content across so that we can talk about more.

[00:03:08] We can send Mari to the movies more, uh, the more money we get. So just saying help us out. And speaking of getting Mari to the movies more, don't forget Mari is selling cups. Mari, tell us about your cups. Woo! We're selling cups. Your favorite book themed cups are, you can find on our website. Um, uh, Game of Thrones cups, just like this one. Team Black. Woo woo. And Team Green. Woo woo woo. Woo woo. Team Green. Thank you. Yes. Come on guys.

[00:03:37] Can be found on the website very, very soon coming up for the, uh, House of the Dragons, uh, premiere, season three premiere, which we will be covering. Uh, you can also find Heated Rivalry, Lights Off, different kind of book, book themed cuts. I was going to say cutlery. Cups. Tomlery, should we say. Or, um, but if that isn't your speed, I also make custom cups. I can put anything on a cup. I can take suggestions.

[00:04:06] I can use, I can put, um, teams on there that might be very litigious. Just, you know, email me. On the low, yeah. On the low. On the low. But yeah, you can always get a fully customized cup. I love working with my customers to make their cup dreams come true. So make sure you go to Mari Craft Too Much, Mari Crafts Too Much, dot big cartel dot com

[00:04:34] in order to get your cups. Yep. Right here. Look, look at that. Look at that. Look at that. Go ahead. Yeah. Um, I have a question for the listeners. Uh, let us know in the comments. Would you like an interview with the Vampire Cup series for Mari to go along with the most recent, the most upcoming season of Interview with the Vampire? Because I don't know if you're new here, you might not know this, but we did cover seasons one and two, uh, just recently. And we will be covering season three, AKA the Vampire Lestat, uh, this summer, right

[00:05:03] along the, you know, uh, House of the Dragon coverage too. And so let us know in the comments. Interview with the Vampire Cup. Let's, let's put Mari to work. Let's make her, uh, uh, make some of these cups and we can all complain about Louie and Lestat as much as I'm going to complain this summer. Cause I am sick of Louie shit already. Yeah. Exactly. So, so enough of the announcements, uh, Mari, I have some current events for us, if you

[00:05:30] would, uh, so join me on this journey. Oh Lord. Oh yeah. So, uh, first and foremost, I think that the number one, uh, topic on the board is your favorite rapper Drizzy Drake. Um, Drake dropped three albums all last week. In one night. Yeah. He had, uh, he was projected to have dropped obviously his, uh, newest project Iceman, but

[00:06:00] then he ended up dropping Maid of Honor and Habibti all at once. Uh, putting, uh, putting, I think 43 of his 43 songs on the billboard 200 chart right now. Uh, have you checked out any of Drake's new songs, Mari? Literally no. The only song that I've heard in full was, um, burning bridges because my phone was in the shop and I had to listen to the radio literally that Friday. Um, so I heard that song.

[00:06:30] That is literally the only song. And the whole time I was on that listening to that song, I was like, I think this is about 21 Savage, but I don't hear anybody talking about this being about 21 Savage. I'm like, this is definitely about 21 Savage, right? Like, I don't know. But anyways, no, I have not listened to it. My home girl who is the Drake fan or was a Drake fan. She didn't even listen to it. I'm like, dog.

[00:06:58] It, like when I tell you the only, the most I've seen about this, uh, the, the listen to the Drake album is this, uh, dude on Tik TOK. Um, did like a smash cut of him reacting to it and it was the funniest thing I ever saw. I gotta send it to you. Yeah. Um, please send me that. Uh, yeah. So I think I misspoke, but Drake, yeah, he's, uh, he's got three albums that potentially

[00:07:25] could be in the Billboard top three on the Billboard 200. Uh, right now I think Iceman is number one, uh, made of honor will be in second place. Oh, of course, Habibdi at that point. Um, I checked them all out. So they are all on the Billboard? They are not, well, yes, actually, yeah, they all are the top three, uh, the Billboard 200 charts, right? So number one with 40, 475,000, uh, sales, I guess, Iceman, uh, 120,000 for made of honor

[00:07:54] and the 120,000 for Habibdi. So, uh, yeah. That's crazy. Cause Chris Brown couldn't even top 70. He, he moved 70,000 for that. Yeah. That shitty album, apparently. Well, so Drake's album, obviously highly anticipated since coming off the backs of the beef with him and, uh, Kendrick Lamar. We chronicled that here on recap kickback as well with our friends over at the, was it good though? Podcast jazz and Jason check that out.

[00:08:24] If you haven't, we actually did that podcast right before Kendrick dropped a not like us. And so, uh, uh, very quickly out of date that podcast was, but it does chronicle the beef and some of the diss tracks leading up to that momentous occasion. Now Drake comes back, drops Iceman, which of course, 475,000 units in the first week. Uh, and it was highly anticipated because people wanted to know what Drake was going to say.

[00:08:51] It's been two years since Drake dropped his last, uh, project and of the people, the big three that were involved in this beef, J Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Uh, he was the only one who has not dropped a project since the beef. And so, uh, people were waiting on it and Mari, I think what you were saying about 21 Savage, I can't speak to directly because I haven't listened to, uh, burn bridges enough to know, but I will say this every track seems like it is just, it is Drake really dealing with a lot of

[00:09:21] the same topics, mostly the beef, right? The people who turn their back on the people who pissed him off the people who were fake friends of his, but he found out they weren't his real friends or they acting different. Uh, and so at first, listen, I didn't love it because I was like, it's kind of whiny. Not gonna lie to you. It's a lot of like, y'all hate me. I'm the best. And I don't understand why y'all turned them back for me, but I don't care about y'all no way I don't care about to be like, it's very whiny. Also Drake was wrapping his ass off. There was some lines in there

[00:09:51] where I was like, Oh, Aubrey. Okay. Get off they necks. Um, everybody was catching strays. Uh, they, I mean, they asked for it in a lot of ways. Uh, DJ Khaled, um, Kendrick Lamar, obviously LeBron James caught a few of them. Um, yeah. So Drake was on people's necks. Is it my favorite Drake project? No, actually it's not. Uh, because I just don't feel any of like the,

[00:10:17] like the Drake hit maker energy on any of those songs. But if you want to talk about rap ability, I think he was doing really well. Those other two albums though, Mari, I, I hate as a strong word. I didn't like those albums at all. I try, I tried it with made of honor. It's got a little house beat to it. A little upbeat, you know, make it dance a little bit. Cool. That Habibdi album.

[00:10:41] Someone told me it's for the hoes. I'm not the hoes. It's not for me. I don't claim to be the hoes either. So I don't know if that'll work on me either. Um, well, so few things first off, it sounds like Iceman was the true like album. Like that's the one he kind of put his heart and soul into. And the other two were just throwaways. My assumption is because he wants to

[00:11:10] get out of the universal music group contract. My assumption every time that's the rumor. Okay. Yeah. Um, you know, every time an artist puts out multiple albums at once is normally because they're trying to fulfill a contract to get out of. And since those are the people, I'm pretty sure he sued. Correct. Right. He, so didn't he sue his own currently in litigation? Yeah. With UMG for sure. Okay. Right. And those were the people that, okay. So I was like, okay,

[00:11:38] so that's probably why he dropped three at the same time, but, uh, 741 days, 741 days from the time that not like us dropped to these three albums. So yeah, of course I would hope you would have some bars. Of course I would hope you have rapped about something like, so Drake just really doesn't

[00:12:04] care. You know, he, he does not care because what is the first thing that happens when somebody drops a disc record? We say you have 24 hours to respond. We say you have 48 hours to respond. Nobody says you have 741 days to respond. I don't care. We don't care anymore. Like at 741 days, you should have

[00:12:30] only put out Habibdi or Maid of Honor and just kept it pushing. Like I don't, I don't care about your beef against, um, uh, DJ Khaled or LeBron, which was weird to begin with. You haven't that man tattooed on your body. Yeah. And I'm sure he would. And I'm sure he was, he should have

[00:12:56] him on there, but I'm sure he was eating LeBron up. Cause you know why LeBron can't rap back at us. Yeah. Yeah. He can't get the pin LeBron. Pick up the pin LeBron. Get them. This is stupid. It's stupid. It's just so, I don't know. It's so lame. It's so corny. Like that's coming from me who was an

[00:13:18] OG Drake fan, like in 09. Like look, shit's corny. If black women ain't going to do nothing else back in 09, they're going to go to college and they're going to listen to Drake. Exactly. But we grew up Drake did it. Yikes. Um, yeah, I've definitely heard mixed reviews about the album. You know, obviously you have to filter out the Stan babble because some people just going to hate it because it's Drake. They're not even going to listen to it. Some people are going to hate it because they don't like it.

[00:13:47] But like I said, I thought, I thought Iceman, the skill level was there. I thought like, this man is rapping, but you're right. Took two years. If you put two years into these, this, I expect for them to be next level. And some of them work. And so I'll give him credit where it's due. But, uh, y'all tell me in the comments, what you think about, uh, Drizzy and his return back to music and, uh, you know, humor me. Should Kendrick respond to this? Cause I personally don't think so. I think he already won. Marty, he took this man out into the courtyard and beat him like an old rug. There's nothing else for him to do now.

[00:14:17] He beat this man in front of millions of viewers at the Superbowl halftime. There's not like, there's nothing I think Kendrick should say like at this point, like Kendrick should just post 741 days. Like that's how long it took you to come up with,

[00:14:40] with good lines against me. I don't, we don't care. We don't care. We don't care. We don't care. Uh, tough, tough break Drizzy. Uh, I wonder if we, though, but you know, his fans 400,000, like, and that's another thing. Drake is never gonna not have fans. Right. Right. Right. He's done the work. He's earned the fandom. He got the fans. They're gonna show up. And then like, like I said, a lot of people showed up just because they

[00:15:10] wanted to hear what the response was going to be. I wouldn't consider myself in the top 50% of, of Drake fans. You know, I like the hits. I like the one, you know, like the, the, the little ditties that you can dance to a little bit. I like the old singing Drake a little bit, but I'm not, you know, it's not my, he's not my guy. Uh, but I, I checked it out. I had to, I needed to know what he was finally going to say. And, uh, you know, mileage may vary on what the content was, but I do think that, you know, I cannot deny his rap

[00:15:38] ability. I wonder if we will be seeing Drake at the upcoming BT awards, uh, Mari, because yes, uh, the blackest night in Hollywood is coming up and we of course have to give due to all of these big names and these big movies that we've had in the last year centers one battle after another of course are going up for a best film again. And this time I have a feeling centers might win, Mari.

[00:16:07] Something tells me. Something tells me, um, other nominees that stand out best movie highest to lowest, which we did cover here on a recap kickback him, um, question mark. Okay. Uh, number one on the call sheet relationship goals, Ruth and Boaz centers and wicked for good. Mari wicked for good. Could you see that beating centers for best movie? I can't. Um, you know, I'm a wicked girly.

[00:16:37] The first one was life. It was life changing. It was life altering. The second one just didn't hit as hard, but we knew, we knew it would it. So I don't, I don't think nothing should outshine centers on culture's biggest night. On culture's biggest night. Yeah. I don't know why Hollywood's blackest night is what I called it, but you know what I meant. Um, I'm going to When are they going to invite us there to be on the red carpet and shit and interview people?

[00:17:03] Well, it's time because Mari, I believe you said it yourself. Drewski should be hosting the BET awards and Mari it's like they heard your voice because Drewski is hosting the BET awards. Give this lady her money. Give me, give me my thing. You heard it here first. Mari drewski's role on the BET awards. It was like a week after the podcast dropped. I heard it. I was like, wait a minute.

[00:17:27] Just say that. Yeah. So yeah, I think we need to cover it. Um, star studded night, the best actress nominees, Angela Bassett, IO Debrey, uh, chase infinity, Coco Jones, Cynthia Erivo, Kiki Palmer, Quinta Brunson, Regina Hall, and Tiana Taylor. And then the best actor nominees, Aaron Pierre, Aldous Hodge, Anthony Mackie, Coleman, Domingo, Damson, Idris, Delroy, Lindo, Denzel Washington, Michael B. Jordan, and Sterling K. Brown. Look, people make fun of BET a lot,

[00:17:57] but them actors, Hey, this is, this is an A list list of actors. I don't like these actors are also, but many of them Academy Award nominated, Emmy nominated. They just stopped playing on the BET awards. Yeah. The, the BET awards, like you said, we've been watching it for what it's been like the last three years. This will be our third year covering it. They've been doing the thing. They've been doing

[00:18:23] the damn thing. Like they've been, like you said, they've been getting the actors. They've been honoring the right shows and stuff. The performances have been banging like the BET awards. If you, if you truly are listening to us and you haven't watched it in the last few years, I would definitely go say like, go watch this one. Cause Drewski, like Drewski, Sterling, all these people, like I'm so excited for them to see all of them. Yeah. Me too. Uh, we get two new categories this year, the fashion

[00:18:53] Vanguard award and the pulse award. Um, the pulse award, uh, recognizing creators and platforms, shaping the culture and digital spaces. Um, and so excited to see Kev on stage. I don't know. Is it nominees or is it just like one person? It's one person. I can see Kev, maybe Issa Rae, maybe. Issa would be great. Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think I, I, I don't know.

[00:19:21] Either one, honestly, we, we have, we have so many stars to choose from now. I don't know if they do a lifetime achievement award this year, but like you said, uh, the performances are really what I, you know, stand out in recent years because they have been honoring the right people and we've been getting those performances. Do you think we can get like a Michael Jackson tribute since, uh, you know, one movie is front of mind? Um, not a tribute. I would love for them to have like Jafar come out and,

[00:19:50] you know, do like a little medley. A little, um, a little one too. Yeah. Cause when you say tribute, that sounds like you're trying to get other people who can't do Michael to come out. No, no, no, no. And BT already had, yeah, they already had, uh, Chris and Usher when it all happened. Right. Or something like that. So Chris Brown was up there crying and pissing me off. I mean, I, I, I've not, I've never been the biggest Chris fan, but that was the day he lost me for life.

[00:20:15] Uh, like no redeeming qualities. He was so happy that that happened because he, he was only like three, two months removed from the Rihanna stuff. He's like, Oh my God, I can dance my way back into people's hearts again. And, and he did not, he did not accomplish his goal. He did not. Not for you. No, not for me. Not, no, he did not accomplish his goal. I just, to me, like, cause he had like a

[00:20:43] breakdown in the middle. I don't know if you remember this, but he just like started crying. He just stopped doing, yeah. He just started something. I was like, Hey, I get it. We all love Michael, but stand up literally stand up. Um, so yeah, yeah. Um, not, not, we'll, we'll see. We'll see what's coming when it comes to, uh, the BET awards, but, uh, I'm cautiously optimistic because like you said, they have been giving me what I needed these last few years. Um, I got other

[00:21:11] news. You mentioned Issa Rae, Mari. Uh, Issa has a podcast that is coming out. Uh, it is with her and Princess Penny. These are the writers and creators, obviously of Insecure. And, uh, the podcast is going to be called Block Party, an Insecure podcast. It's a weekly rewatch series built around the Emmy nominated HBO show. I felt like we need to talk about this because I feel like you might check this out, but are they reheating our nachos? So, I mean,

[00:21:42] I mean, when are y'all going to put us on the red carpet? Issa, come on. Issa, let's go. What's up? Come on, Issa. Why, why, why do this? Just, just. Why y'all trying to steal? Like, I don't understand. Right. YouTube famous to be doing your own podcast coverage. Let, let us handle that for you, girl. I got it. Um, so yeah, you think you

[00:22:07] could check out the Insecure Block Party podcast? I might. I'll check it out. Yeah. I, I famously, I, I do not rewatch shows like that. Like, it, cause, because, because I'm, um, like, I don't, I could just be making up words for it, but I'm like a media sense memory type person. So whenever

[00:22:31] I listen to a song, watch a TV show, whenever I'm listening to it or watching it, I, it literally brings back all of the memories from that, like time in my life, which means I have to be prepared to like go be nostalgic and, you know, be crying maybe depending on what's going on. So I don't, I true. I have like really, really strong memories tied to like shows, like shows and movies and music

[00:23:00] and stuff like that. And Insecure was just such a great show, like just top to bottom, great show. 2016 was such a, like one of those years, man, that was just like, everything is falling apart around me, like the world, but I'm having a great time because like, I got married. I was like, I was living my best life in 2016. It was like, the world is coming to live. But anyways, I say all

[00:23:30] that today. I probably will. I'll probably catch it out. Uh, check it out. I really want, I I've been wanting to listen to the living single one. You know, we've, I think we've mentioned that a few times. I, I, I, I clips, I can only do clips because again, like, I'm like, I would don't play with me. I will sit up here and cry on an episode that has nothing to do with people being sad. Like, I'll just be like, I remember those days. I was so young and just be crying. You know what I'm

[00:23:59] saying? Like just, yeah. This is, this is not my therapist. That's tomorrow. So, um, but yeah, I would, I would definitely, because I'm assuming it's going to be like the wind downs, like the little wind down things that they would do at the end of the shows when they would talk about like behind the scenes stuff that I do like, I do like stuff like that, like behind the scenes, if they're going to give us like behind the scenes tea, uh, like that should be the only reason why a

[00:24:26] creator should do their own podcast about their own show. Like, I need you to be telling me that, uh, Jay Ellis had C, uh, food poisoning that day and threw up eight times that you still kiss him. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Give us the behind the scoop. I want the scoop. We can talk about the episodes. Exactly. Exactly. So yeah, I'll definitely check it out. Okay. Well, uh, I know you were

[00:24:53] talking about nostalgia, but Mari, they said it would never happen, but it's happening. Ice Cube and Mike Epps have finally confirmed last Friday, the fourth installment of the Friday franchise is officially happening with production eyed for late 2026. Um, I believe, uh, they said that the rumors are that maybe Chris Tucker might even be coming back as Smokey again. Craig

[00:25:21] and Day Day will both be back. Uh, so, you know, whenever that drops, no matter where I am and what we're doing, recap, kickback podcast, that is a mandatory watch here. I think, uh, with the release being pushed back to April, 2027, uh, I think at this point, or at least that's what Ice Cube is pushing for. Uh, I'm pretty sure people are going to be talking about it and they're going to be looking for us to talk about it on here too, Mari. Yeah. I'm gonna watch it. I mean,

[00:25:48] yeah, it's here. Like sequels and stuff. I'm trying to think, have they done, like maybe Bad Boys might be the best. Can I admit something? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like you didn't watch the fourth one? Not the, I didn't see the fourth one. No, I don't know. I don't know. I didn't either.

[00:26:11] I didn't, I didn't, I didn't either. A lot of people did though. A lot of people did. Damn. Do we need to watch it? I think we might need to watch it. Maybe I'll find out. Yeah, we might need to watch it. Yeah. Um, I want you, I'm not really a big fan of the sequels and remakes, but Mari, I say that as I bring up the last slide that we have to talk about, it's a different world. Mari, it's back.

[00:26:37] Oh, I'm definitely watching that. Oh yeah. Shout out to the alumnus. Um, I was just looking up her, her, her name. The, the girl who's playing the main character just graduated this year. Shout out to her. So she finished, she graduated with a bachelor's in fine arts while she was, um, filming

[00:26:59] this. Yeah. Uh, Malia Joy Moon, I believe is her name. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. She graduated from Howard while finished, while filming this. So shout out to her. I'm definitely watching this because, cause like remakes like this have had, have been quite successful though. Like Belair,

[00:27:26] um, Raven's home. They, these have been quite successful, you know? Um, so I'm excited. I want to see how they do. I really want to see, Ooh, I really want to see how they capture the like college experience for like now. Yeah, me too. Right. Cause I think we, our college experience was between a different world and this current season, but we didn't, we don't know what college is like now. Right. And we weren't, we watched what college was like

[00:27:54] on a different world. So now we got our own version of what happened. Right. Um, uh, we were all, we all had a different type of college experience. So yeah, I'm, I'm very excited to see what the kids got going on. Um, these days they're bringing back some of the greatest hits, uh, Whitley, Dwayne, uh, Ron Johnson, Freddie Brooks, Kimberly Reese Boyer, Professor Davenport, but then also like some new, some new faces, as you pointed out, Malia Joy Moon.

[00:28:19] Uh, I think Method Man is also going to be popping up on this as a coach. Uh, and so, yeah, very excited to see these new kind of this new generation of a different world and it will be available on Netflix. I don't know if it was released the date of, I guess, um, it's going to drop. I think it's, it's later on this year. It's in the fall. Again, I think I just saw that. Yeah.

[00:28:45] It's the fall of this year. Yes. Okay. Well, that is going to be great. I cannot wait. I love a different world and I want to, I guess I want to see the evolutionist thing. Shout out to Blex Media who provided us with all of our current events. Uh, one of our resources, go to Blexmedia.com to show them some love and give them some clicks to keep up with all the news that we, uh, did not discuss, uh, today because we can't go through everything. We have to talk about is God is and, um, yeah,

[00:29:15] let's do it right after this. Okay. We're back. So Mari, uh, is God is we, you were like, Hey, we got to go watch this. I vaguely remember us talking about it maybe in passing in, you know, months prior, but I didn't really know what the movie was about. So before we get into the spoilers, Mari, what would you say this movie was about? Like just from like, if I was just watching the

[00:29:41] trailers. Yeah. Like if you, or even just from watching the movie now, if you have to, if anybody's listening to this and did not watch is God is here's your non-spoiler, uh, synopsis of the movie. Okay. So it's like a, um, it's basically a mix between a black exploits, black exploitation and revenge film. Um, the black version of it, uh, just follows two girls who are sent on a mission by

[00:30:10] their mother to kill their father. Um, because he is the reason that them and their mother have like burns and burn wounds on them. So it's like, uh, it, it very think like your kill bills, your any type of movie where the, the protagonist is like what top boy, I believe, uh, trying to get

[00:30:36] revenge on somebody, but black, but black, but black. Yeah. Oh, which I think is honestly what the big selling point for me is. I mean, we've seen movies like this before, as you pointed out, where something happens and now the, the plot of the movie is for this person or people to kind of go on a journey to get the revenge that they are promised. Even, you know, in a, in a similar way,

[00:31:01] I know you mentioned, um, kill bill, but also Django is another one where he's on like, Oh, it's not so much a revenge and more like a rescue mission. But you know, the, the point is that he's trying to make, they're trying to make this journey to, to get revenge on behalf of their mother, who they affectionately call God. Um, the film is directed by Alicia Harris. And I don't know, uh, anything

[00:31:30] about Alicia Harris at all, but I know that through watching the trailer, a lot of people were saying, Oh, this is giving you like Tarantino vibes. And, and I, and I could see it because it felt like she was playing with a lot of the styles, uh, of different genres almost. Right. There were moments of the, yeah, like that Western. Yeah. Right. There were, there were moments that felt like almost like a Kung Fu movie. There was moments that felt like, uh, you know, obviously like

[00:31:56] exploitation. Uh huh. And so just based off that alone, she had my attention, but, um, I'm so, I'm so excited to talk about this because I love finding new talented people. And I say new, I'm sure she's been doing this for a while. I'm looking at her Wikipedia page and she did win the American play writing foundation's relentless award in 2016. Uh, and this is based on a play.

[00:32:22] Yeah. It's her screen. So this, she directed, she wrote the screenplay and it's based on a play. I believe she wrote. So it's, so she, this is her first feature film. And so it literally the whole time I was like, this is amazing. Like all of this aside, this is her first feature film as a black

[00:32:45] woman director, uh, to get like this, like it's very, I don't know if I'm saying this correctly, but it's like, I want to know who gave her the budget because normally it takes so much for us to get anything and to take a chance on a film. That's like, take a chance air quotes. You're,

[00:33:13] they always see it as taking a chance on a black director when Clint Eastwood has gotten so many of these type of movies for no reason. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just like, or, or any new white director, it's just, it's just amazing. I was like, I want to know how she got the backing. Well, one of the producers is somebody famous. I just, I saw their names. I can't remember. You're probably looking it up. Um, Gabrielle Union? No. Anyways. Uh, yeah,

[00:33:41] I was just, I was just astounded that this is her first project. It's so stylized. It's so surreal. Um, like it's amazing. And it's, and it's so outside the box, like again, to give a first time director something of this magnitude and it not just be some throw away, like black biopic, you know, something about racism. I don't, you know what I'm saying? Like it was great.

[00:34:12] Yeah. Uh, Tessa Thompson is the producer you were thinking of Mari. Yes. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Mari, uh, I'm with you on that one. I really thought this was, it was refreshing because I think, you know, we talk about race a lot being black. You kind of have to be in black in America. I mean, y'all don't get me on a rant about that, but I think there's so many

[00:34:37] films where it's a film and then the racism is the front of the film, right? Like it is the, like the forefront of the film is the most important part of the film is that these black people have to overcome, uh, racism. Then in recent years, we started to get these thrillers and movies that are psychological thrillers, but they're still race, right? So it's still like, uh, sociological thrillers and stuff like that. So like you get your, your, um, your get out and, you know,

[00:35:06] and stuff like that where it's like, oh, the movie's about this, but we laced the racism in there to where you really can't like, you know, so where it's like, oh, the racism is the bad guy all of a sudden, you know, like the monster. Uh, and even to, uh, and I mean, a big example is obviously sinners. Uh, you know, it's a vampire movie, but inside it's like racism is in there, you know, like, right. Um, but this, this was not that I don't even know if there were any white people in this film.

[00:35:36] I hadn't thought about it. Oh my God. Oh my God. No, there wasn't. Huh? Not a white face in sight. Huh? That's how, that's how they're like, we made them realize. You know, so this was how it feels. This is friends. This is the whole, whole 10 seasons of friends. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So,

[00:36:02] so yeah. So racism wasn't a big deal here. It wasn't the driving force here. It was, it was, uh, so refreshing. It was fun to watch, but also very much a thriller. Um, there were some moments that I cannot wait to dive into, but overall, if you were watching this review right now and you're thinking, should I go watch is God is I say, definitely go watch it. I'm sure the bootlegs are already out, but go support this movie. Uh, because again,

[00:36:29] when we start supporting these films, then we can get more films like this. Um, because if you don't support them, people will say, well, nobody must be watching them. I mean, dear God, like they're not, they're not selling anything. We don't want to give these people any more chances. And so, um, thank you to Tessa Thompson for, uh, I believe it was her company. Um, that is, you know, that produced this and, you know, I'm, I'm pretty sure a lot of her money went into it as

[00:36:56] well. Uh, and so, yeah, thank you for that. And thank you to this star studied cast as well. Um, I mean, star studied, but then also some people that I didn't really know too well. Um, very happy to see Janelle Monae in the cast, Sterling K Brown as well. Yeah. Uh, but, uh, before we get into the spoilers, what did you think about the cast? What'd you think about some of these performances?

[00:37:20] Oh, the performances were really, really good. Um, I, I knew the whole cast going into it. And again, this, this is like a, I'm going to keep referencing Kill Bill because it's that same thing. It's like, you're getting introduced to characters along the way. Right. So like it's your two main protagonists and they meet one person and then they have to go meet another person and you get that

[00:37:48] person's backstory and you meet another person, you get their backstory. It's just so fun and so clever. You know what I'm saying? So, um, the acting, because each person got their little moment, their, their backstory to shine, they all did a great job. Speaking of living single, we saw Ms. Erica Alexander in here and she, she honestly, I think is my favorite side character.

[00:38:16] Her, her, I was, I was funny. So yeah, the acting was a one. The two main leads were great as well. Like, wow. Yeah. Yeah. So Mallory Johnson. Yeah. Mallory Johnson. I don't think I was familiar with their work prior to this. Um, definitely not Kara Young, if I'm not mistaken. I don't think I've seen anything that she was in. Uh, and now I'm like, do I need to go find the stuff that she was in? Because

[00:38:46] she was really good. Um, and then of course, Mallory Johnson as well. Um, a relative unknown, I would say she's got six acting credits to her name on Wikipedia. Yes, but she was in Kindred. So I, I have to go back and revisit Kindred. I only got to see like an episode or two. Um, because I, because I was going to read the book. Yeah. I wanted to read the book before I saw a show

[00:39:12] that I, I didn't, I didn't do either, but she, her acting was stellar. Yeah. And, um, Kara is going to be in another movie that I will be going to the movies to see. Yes. Uh, this week. I love boosters coming. Yeah. To the movies we go. Um, so yeah, I'm excited to see. I love boosters.

[00:39:42] They showed a, they showed a preview for I love boosters and this one, did you get a preview for? You know, I'll be on CP time. I showed up when the, uh, yeah, they, they had a preview for I love boosters and, um, is God is, and it was great. And then extended one. I'm like, damn, I really want to see this to me more. I mean, the whole cast is like the rest of the cast of black is great.

[00:40:08] Booch Riley, but seeing Demi Moore in her, like Anna Wintour, rich bitch type of vibe was so funny. I'm like Demi Moore is that she's that girl, like truly such a Renaissance, like a career Renaissance coming back, uh, after the substance and all that. Okay. Okay. Well, we will be checking out. I love boosters ASAP, um, and trying to get that to you, but we do need to talk about

[00:40:38] is God is. And, uh, again, I am very excited to talk about this film, um, because I did not really know what to expect. I saw the trailer, um, but that's it. And so when I came in, I was like, okay, let's, let's see what this is. And I was not disappointed in the slightest. Um, the movie follows, uh, these two twin sisters, uh, uh, uh, uh, Racine, I'm sorry. I almost Racine. I'm sorry.

[00:41:07] Yeah. Racine and, uh, the other sister, uh, Anaya and the two of them are on this revenge journey because we find out very early on that, uh, they were burnt alive, uh, by their father who was played by Sterling K Brown and their mother was the victim of this as well. And so, uh, the two of them grew up in foster care, never quite knowing their family, I guess they were taken away when they were very

[00:41:36] small. Uh, and so they bounced from foster home to foster home, but they've developed this almost symbiotic relationship, you know, or this codependent relationship. I mean, they're twins, so it makes sense, but there's something about them, Mari. That's a little, it feels like they're twins, but their connection is also forged in trauma when you say, yeah. Yeah. Because, you know,

[00:42:01] after the incident with their mom and they're burning, they get, they get burned. Uh, Naya is the one with the facial burns. Um, uh, her nickname is Naya. Uh, she's the one with the facial burns and Racine, also known as Scene, is the one with the hand burns. They're little kids when it happens, they're told that their mom is dead and they didn't, and they didn't know, um, you know, their father, they thought got in trouble or, or whatever. Um, so they're, they're in and out of foster homes.

[00:42:30] They're already close as twins, but because of the, the foster homes, which as the movie progresses, they learn what they experienced at every foster home, it's kind of like you have to, uh, build that, that bond is definitely stronger because they only have each other because they're, they, they've witnessed and been a part of so much traumatic stuff in and out of those, those foster

[00:42:54] homes. And I love how they depicted this because it's like, we all know that black look, we all know that like, like they're talking to each other without talking and the dialogue is put on the screen. And it's so funny. It's so effective throughout the whole movie. And I just got to stop here real quick to say that I have to tell you about my movie experience because I went

[00:43:17] at one o'clock on a Monday or on a Tuesday and it was me and maybe 12 other people in there. And right in front of me was just a row of three elderly church black ladies. It was, yeah. And I, I was like, I don't know if they know what this is, but when I tell you- Oh my God, they saw God in the title, Mari, and pulled up in the church bus, Lord.

[00:43:45] I think they might've, but it was kind of funny because throughout the, the, the, the movie, I could hear Pearl's being questioned. Oh my. Yeah. It's like the murmurs, the whole. Heavens. It was so funny, man. I was like, this is great. This is hilarious. So yeah, like they, the, the two, the two twins, they had to rely on each other. They had nobody else.

[00:44:15] Yeah. And to Mari's point that we get several moments of either black or twin telepathy, uh, between these two where they, they're so close to where they don't have to talk. A lot of the communication they do is just through looks and pauses, uh, because they know each other so well. Uh, Racine, she's the smaller of the two twins, uh, cause they're, uh, fraternal twins. Uh, but, uh, she's the smaller of the two and she is the mean one. She's the rough one. Uh,

[00:44:45] she is here to fight and protect the both of them, uh, because she's very protective over her sister Anaya, who was described as the emotional one. Anaya is the one, like Mari pointed out, she's got all the burns. And so she's probably had a tougher time dealing with, uh, just the, the idea that she's walking around with these, um, with these scars and people are judging her. People calling her ugly. She's not really getting the same type of love and attention. She would be

[00:45:13] getting if she, if she wasn't burnt probably, you know? And so she's struggling with that. And Racine is the protector of the two, right? She's going to, uh, but what, one thing we learned very early on is that one ain't going to do something without the other one, right? Uh, uh, Racine might have a plot and as much as Anaya is going to push back as the quiet one, she's still going to go through with whatever. And so, um, when they get this letter from their mom,

[00:45:38] uh, to come visit the letters written to Racine's like, Hey, uh, I wrote it to you because you are not the emotional one. I remember that my other one is the emotional one. She can't handle this, but you will come here and they come to visit her. And that's when we meet Vivica Fox as mama or AKA God. Um, Mark, what'd you think about Vivica Fox? And I, what I would imagine is I think it's her return to the big screen. I can't think of the last Vivica Fox movie I saw.

[00:46:07] Um, yeah, it could be, um, I'd have to look that up, but very, she's very, very mob boss like sitting there getting her hair braided by three girls. Like just the atmosphere of it all was so great. It was like the zooming in on the hands, working on the braids, the girls. I'm like,

[00:46:31] mm-hmm. And just Vivica Fox sitting there, like the, the grand dom and doling out these orders, like, no, hi, how are you? Like, I haven't seen you in, had to be at least 10 plus years or so.

[00:46:53] Like, yeah, for sure. Hey, I'm alive. Hey, go kill your dad. Like, well, like, but, and I, I love their initial reaction too, but, um, yeah, like Vivica Fox, this scene was, was so, it was so great. It, and it's the scene that's more, most referenced in the trailers. So there wasn't much surprises there. Um, but she was, she was great in this and the way this was shot was

[00:47:20] crazy. So good. Yeah. I think the thriller aspects really come in right here because we meet, uh, God and, uh, Ruby the God. And she says, I want you to make your daddy dead. Of course, the girls are kind of like, what? And so she recounts the, I, you know, the things that happened the night, uh, that she was attacked. Um, her husband, uh, or baby daddy at the very least came

[00:47:46] home, uh, from, um, despite having a restraining order, he came to the house and then he, uh, snuck in, attacked, uh, Vivica Fox's character, Ruby, while she was in the bathroom, uh, and threw her into the bathtub and then went and got the little girls. He poured whiskey on top of them, on top of her, and then lit her on fire with the little girls there trying to save her. And then he

[00:48:15] walked out. Uh, we will also find out that she takes him to court later on because of this heinous crime. And he's able to get off scot-free and now he's off living his life with his brand new family in his big ass house. Like, nothing ever happened. And so the stage is set for them to go and, uh, get revenge on this man because it was their mom's dying wish.

[00:48:39] Yeah. Like, how, like, how on God's green earth does he get off on that? Like, true, like, anyways, yeah, this was, so this was kind of hard to watch. Um, even, even though, like I said, it, like, uh, uh, Ashley, uh, did a great job, um, in the depiction of this backstory. Like,

[00:49:09] Vivica Fox telling the story, it's in, like, black and white. She's talking dead to the camera. Chappelle, did you realize we didn't, we didn't see all of Sterling K. Brown's face until 15 minutes left in the movie. Not, uh, not, I mean, his whole body. We didn't see his whole body until 15 minutes left in the movie. And he was all through it throughout the movie. It was just such cool cuts and, and close-ups on his mouth, close-ups on the back of his head, close-ups on like,

[00:49:39] it was just really, but like I was saying, it was really hard to watch because, you know, we've been talking about in the last month, it seems like there's been so many, um, you know, intimate partner violence against black women, um, you know, uh, from their husbands, thinking about Dr. Serena Fairfax, you know, um, the murder of the, the eight kids, uh, out in Utah. And it's just like, it's, it's really hard. It's really hard to watch. Right. You know,

[00:50:07] and it's just kind of like, you know, the movie can't be blamed for the timing because this is how humans are until we get a hold on intimate partner violence. Like no time is going to be the right time to depict this on screen. Um, all that being said for the basis of your average, your like average Raven Western type of movie, this was great because it was diabolical. Sterling

[00:50:33] K. Brown came off diabolical from the first moment, you know? And, um, actually it really captured Alicia. Alicia, is it, that's how you say it? I think it's Alicia. I thought it was Alicia. Right. Cause it's actually, cause it's spelled A-S-H-L-E-A. Oh, see, I thought, you know, you know, the dyslexia kicks in. I thought it was A-L-E-S-H-E-A. My bad. Go ahead. Go ahead,

[00:51:00] girl. My bad. Uh, yeah. So, uh, what's her last name? What's her last name? Harris. Harris. Harris. Yes. Ms. Harris, uh, the director Harris. She did, put that respect on her name. She, she did her a great job setting the scene, like truly, truly great job.

[00:51:24] You know what? I wish I didn't know that Sterling K. Brown was in the film because I think the reveal of him being the bad guy hits harder. If you don't know that that Sterling K. Brown's face throughout the film, they show his, like you said, they show his teeth a lot. I think you can start to put together. If you know Sterling K. Brown is an actor, then you obviously probably could recognize him from his teeth. Um, or Erica Alexander said you could recognize him from

[00:51:51] his ass. Apparently he's caked up. But, um, I think that the film. Okay. I think that the film. I mean, I get past me. She's like, I saw the bakery. So I think the, I think the film does a good job of kind of like, like kind of building the suspense to that reveal. But because I knew it was him the whole time, I was like, I don't know, man. I got really just, I just really feel like

[00:52:16] I wish they hadn't told us because the scream I would have scrumped had I, had I found out at the end. Like there's no way they got Sterling K. Brown in this role as just this monster, but they did. So I don't know. This is one thing I wish that, and that's not a film criticism. That's, uh, you know, rolled out, you know, IMDB. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To be quite honest,

[00:52:41] she probably could, like you said, that could have been her envision, but you know, they, they, they hire separate companies to do the trailers and stuff. Uh, yeah. And then once you see it, you're kind of like, well, and people are saying, you know, Sterling K. Brown is really having a moment. I think these last few years have been the height of his popularity. So if you want people to go see the movie, you definitely tell them Sterling K. Brown is in it for sure. That cannot hurt. Um, I think that that makes sense too. Yeah. I just, I, I don't know. Like I would, I hope somebody gets to watch this, not knowing that that's him so they can kind of find,

[00:53:11] be like, Oh my God. Cause it was a lot to watch. Um, but they are giving these instructions. Uh, Racine is all in and Anaya is definitely like, no, we are not killers. But you know, their mom, their bodies, they've, they've suffered so much because of the hands of this man. It only makes sense for them to go out and do this one thing for God because she created them. And so first stop, they have to go and see, uh, his new wife or who they

[00:53:40] think is his new lady, uh, Maxine Shaw attorney at law, Erica Alexander. I don't even know where to start. Right. This scene is so crazy and it's the scene from the trailer and it's still funny. Right? Yes. So, so Maxine Shaw attorney at law. I heard her, her name in this was Lady Divine. Yeah. Lady Divine. And they, they roll up on her church and she's in mid sermon

[00:54:07] and just the, just the pull that she, the sway she had on the congregation. They all like at one time they caught the Holy ghost. She was, she was in there preaching. She was preaching, man. And just the, the overzealous deal that she brought to the role was just so freaking

[00:54:32] honey. It was just so random. Like, but not, you know what I'm saying? So once they, and then once they get her by herself and well, not by herself cause Ezekiel was there and they find out they're talking to her, trying to figure out where she's at, where he's at. And she's basically like, if when you find him, let me know too, because I've been here obsessing over him for God knows how

[00:54:59] long, which I'm like, I really want to know what the time, like, what is the timeline for all of this? Because it, what it has to be like, it's either 10 or 20 years, right? Maybe it has to be 20 years. Ezekiel's big ass. He's like, that's a grown man. At least 20. That's a grown man, right? That's a grown man. Yeah. But you know, um, Ezekiel can't be much younger than these two women,

[00:55:24] you know, Racine and Anaya. So yeah, back to back. I think he hops out of one and then ends over at, uh, Lady Divine's house. Yeah. And, uh, you're right. She was a character that you ain't shit devil is so funny, regardless of how many times I've seen it. Um, and yeah, she talks about how she was with him during the trial. I rolled my eyes when she said that, because it's something about those people who were like, I would stick beside my man,

[00:55:52] my man, my man, my man, even church lady. Right. Exactly. Like you're the church lady and you got to be behind this man because he's so, he needs so much forgiveness and he's repented and all this other stuff. Like he didn't burn this woman and her two kids alive. Um, but she nursed him right on up. And then apparently he kissed the palm of her hand and left to go to the store and never came back. And so, um, he went to get that milk, cigarettes. It happens. It happens. And, um, yeah. So

[00:56:22] because of that, he has no choice, but to, um, I mean, she has no choice, but to just hold on to all his prize, his prize possessions and Ezekiel, who is his other child. Yeah. She's like, this is, she said, this is your half sisters, Ezekiel and Ezekiel crazy because he's grown up in this church and he's like, worships his father. You could, you could tell they both worship him. Um, but probably

[00:56:51] haven't known him for, for that long. It is, it was wild. The fact that she had his stuff and like, what was it? Like a safe, a shrine with, it was an altar. It was an altar and, and it wasn't like his stuff. Like this weren't prize possessions. She had his speed stick, his toiletries, a bottle of Patron, when I tell you it was one of those moments. She, I think at one point she says, if you see your dad,

[00:57:21] tell him and she said something, but I just kept thinking of tell him, I said, ha, ha, speaking of Friday, speaking of Friday, um, Mari, she was still wearing the white dress for the wedding. That was, oh my God. So good. Erica Alexander, it was just crazy after crazy and Nia and Racine sitting here like,

[00:57:47] so you don't know where he is. Right. Um, and you know, they are tracking him down. So they need more information about this. Eventually, uh, Racine of course gets upset because this is too much for her. She finds out that this woman who basically saw this man who burnt his kids alive, then went and got pregnant with him. And he's been waiting by, for, by her, you know, by on her, on the doorstep for him to show up for years and years and years. She can't respect it. She told her she must have laid that dick

[00:58:17] right. And that sent Lady Divine into a frenzy. And on the way out, Racine stole the address book from the little shrine as the church folk literally chase after them on foot while they're driving off. Mari, this reminded me of Atlanta, you know? Um, I think it's that. Oh yeah. Yeah. That one episode of Atlanta where the guy is just chasing and chasing and chasing and like, they're like trying to get

[00:58:42] away, but he's just on foot, you know? He's just on foot. What? Oh my God. What episode is that? And they like stopped and they were talking and all the, Oh my God. Was that the slumber party one where they, that was, was it the killer? I don't know, Mari. I don't know, but yeah, it definitely gave me Atlanta vibes, but they have this, um, they have this address book and it's going to lead them

[00:59:08] to the address of his lawyer. And so, um, they're what, you know, they're, they're doing the thing where they're trying to figure out a way, what are they going to do to kill them? How are they going to get there? All these other things. And they go to find the lawyer whose name is Chuck Hall, who does it all. He's a black Southern cowboy type. And when they get to Chuck Hall, he's casually

[00:59:30] getting his ass beat by a woman who is doing this for pay. What? I was like, what are we doing? Like, I was so confused. I was like, is this a kink? Like I was like, I was first question I asked. Was this a kink? Is that the first question? Right out of my mouth. I asked it out loud. I said,

[00:59:57] is that a kink? You know, so. Yes. Like you said, we, we, yeah, we just kink asking why. And right. Uh, she's just beat his ass. And this is how we find out this is because his, because we didn't get a stylized backstory from Erica Alexander's character. She told it so funnily. Right.

[01:00:21] But we, this is where we get the stylized backstory from him because it's his inner monologue and we're finding out that he can't talk. He ain't got no tongue. He has no tongue in his head. And so the entire time this man has been a lawyer, he's been communicating. Well, in these last, I guess, 20 years or so, he's been communicating via, uh, dry erase marker. And so he's just, you cut this dry

[01:00:46] race board where he writes down bits and pieces of information. And when he finds out that these twins want to get their revenge, he tells them, no, go, go to trade school. Get your CDL. Go make something up. Get your CDL. He said, go get a trade. Go to community college. Live out your life with little misery. Leave this

[01:01:10] man alone. Why are this man was shook? Oh, I'm tearing up because he, cause we find out he's been getting his butt whooped because he's getting ready for, uh, we don't. And that's another thing. Sterling K Brown's, um, character doesn't have a name. The name is just man, I think in the credits, but he's just waiting for man to come back and finish the job. And he's just like trying to be

[01:01:34] like ready for it. So he's like, y'all just, y'all don't want the smoke. Go, go ahead. Go, go drive a truck. Yeah. Uh, and it looks like his training might've paid off because he was definitely ready to, uh, to fight. He's like, all right, y'all want to fight? Fine. Uh, hit me. Racine hits him. And that was it. He was like, he was like, I'm not ready actually. And so this is what he does reveal that he was his, he was the dad's lawyer. And after he got him off, uh, he real,

[01:02:03] like somehow Sterling K Brown's character realizes, Hey, this guy isn't as happy for me as he should be. Like we just got off of murdering for burning this woman and her two kids. And I can kind of see in his eyes that maybe he thinks I'm crazy. So I'm gonna show him how crazy I am. He rips his tongue out, uh, beats him over the head and then leaves and just, and then ripped with his tongue and tells him, basically, if you say something, then I'm coming back for the rest of you. And so,

[01:02:34] um, you know, he's terrified. He's terrified. And he tries to give the girl some wisdom. He says, vengeance does not decide where the blood will land. Uh, and in that moment, Mari, I knew how this was going to end. I said, Oh, there it is. Cause that is a foreshadowing for that ass. I didn't even think of that. That's true. That is foreshadowing. I was like, Oh,

[01:02:57] a little morbid here, but yeah, that's true. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, again, that, that stylized backstory. So good. So good. Mm-hmm. So as a Ray, Racine and, uh, Anaya are on their journey, uh, we find out that Racine has been taking credit for killing some other people before she talks about how, um, one of their former foster parents, uh, he died from a heart attack, but she takes full credit for that. You know, I was getting in trouble on purpose so that he could beat my ass and have a heart attack. Um,

[01:03:27] because she's all in on this murder thing. And Anaya is even noticing that she enjoyed this a little too much, but, um, while on a pee break, a mysterious man in a motorcycle helmet shows up with his hammer and destroys their car and chases after them. And Mari, the entire time I was like, I know this ain't Ezekiel. So, uh, so I really didn't, I, I didn't, I should have known, but I didn't get, I didn't realize until he

[01:03:55] took his helmet off, but I should have known because of how dopey he kind of was after he started getting his butt whooped and the, the, the, the, the fight scenes were so chaotic, like, and they felt real, right? Like so real and chaotic and the hiding, um, Naya's hiding and he pops up behind it. It was so good. And then they finally trap him and he takes his helmet off and he's yelling things like you can't

[01:04:24] kill the father of Ezekiel. Just so weird. Churchy. Like, let's get out of here. This is, this is creepy. Yeah. I was concerned about them when Ezekiel was coming after them for a while. Cause I, like, like I said, I kept, I was in denial. I was like, there's no way this is Ezekiel. There's just no way. But like you said, he was kind of tripping all over himself. It didn't look like a trained assassin. And like, who comes after somebody? No, it didn't. I was like. That's, I was thinking that too. Right. Yeah. I should have known he wasn't a trained assassin

[01:04:52] because he was swinging it all wildly. Yeah. One of the other details they got about their dad from, uh, our lawyer is that, uh, he has a new wife and, uh, she has twin boys. And so now we know that they have more siblings. Uh, they have a wild one and a quiet one kind of just like them.

[01:05:18] And, uh, their mother, Angie played by Janelle Monae. Uh, and I love Janelle Monae so much. Just start with that. But, um, man, tough go for Janelle Monae in this film. Angie did not last. I really thought, okay, my girl got to get out of here and leave these boys for dead. Fine. F them kids.

[01:05:38] Yeah. She was a two. I thought she was gonna escape. I know. And this is, so, this is, so, so we did Swarm, right? Swarm was great. And, and this kind of felt like Swarm, but more compact. So like with Swarm, the first few episodes, you're like, oh yeah, all these people deserve to die. But by the time we get to Janelle Monae's character,

[01:06:05] I was like, man, y'all got, oh, you know what I'm saying? Like, I was like, don't, don't do it. And Janelle Monae's character is so funny. She's the current wife, clearly being abused. We see her peeing into a cleaning solution and wiping stuff down in the house with their pee, which was so nasty, but so funny. But also it made me realize how many times have we seen people peeing in this movie? Like there were so many times that they were peeing.

[01:06:33] And it's always women. I think, I think maybe that's something that, I mean, like, look, men pee in a lot of movies too. And so maybe it's just normalizing it, right? Women pee. Right. It was, yeah, that, it was very interesting, but she's, she's literally planning to get out. She's gone. She kisses her twin boys goodbye and is trying to escape this horrible man. And she runs into Racine and Naya.

[01:07:00] Yeah. She's trying to talk to them. Hey, let me just get out of the way. Like y'all take whatever you want. She's trying to give them jewelry. She tries to give them money. Are y'all here for child support? Take it. I gotta go. I'm trying to get the hell out of here. This man been beating my ass. Uh, and sadly when they start to get in the way, they take her keys, uh, and she's trying to get them back. And eventually she tells them, it's not my fault that your weak ass ghetto trash mama had to go through all of that and didn't, it wasn't strong enough to get out. And then

[01:07:27] Mari, the gasp that I gusped when she spat on that girl, they, I, Mari, she hocked to it in your face. Missy Elliott style. Mari, Mari, Mari. I screamed. I scrubbed. And, and this was the part where the ladies in front of me were like, Oh, no.

[01:07:56] Oh, no. Oh, no. Like this. Jesus. Everybody in the theater was like, Oh, no. Oh, no. She done did it now. And yeah, I was like, dang it, girl. Dang it. Cause I was like, yeah. Can't even defeat you. You can't pumpkin, you can't pumpkin somebody and not expect to get your ass whooped. And right. Whooped it dead. Racine is clearly losing it. She is enjoying

[01:08:24] inflicting this, this pain on people. And, uh, Naya has to tell her to stop. I, so I'm pretty sure she did. Yeah, she did. Right. Yeah. She beat her with a rock and a sock. No. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The rock and sock connection. The old Mick Foley, Dwayne Johnson. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah. This rock and sock is wreaking havoc on the entire, uh, show at this point. Uh,

[01:08:54] she beats the hell out of the, uh, the mama. They leave her for dead and then they go to the house because they have to confront these twin boys. Uh, they are there. And the, one of the twins is stupid. Um, he sees these two girls dressed in plain clothes and, and he is a dumb ass. He assumes they are strippers. They didn't say they were strippers. They didn't pretend to be strippers. They weren't dressed in a stripper uniform of any sort. Uh, and he decided, okay,

[01:09:22] look, these are strippers and we're going to make them strip and I'm going to call my homeboys and we're going to have a good time. The other brother is like, this is crazy. Let's, we should not do this. At least let's call dad and ask him if he sent strippers here. Our birthday isn't for a couple of weeks. Why would he send them now? But the stupid brother is already like, no, let me have this. Oh my God. You never let me have anything fun. So the girls go into this woman's house,

[01:09:45] change into her lingerie and then come out to strip for a room full of boys and, uh, basically seduce, uh, the, one of the siblings, their siblings, by the way, one of their siblings. Yeah. Half brothers. Yeah. Yeah. So while Anaya is bonding with, uh, the other quiet sibling, uh, the two rowdier siblings are in the back room and, uh, this all happens because, uh, the,

[01:10:14] the taller of the two siblings, the stupid one, uh, Scotch. I believe it's his name. Yeah. Scotch. He wanted Anaya to turn around and strip and dance because they didn't want to look at the burns on her face. And this is the moment I knew he was going to die. Yeah. Unfortunately, uh, Naya's body bent T so, um, but they didn't want to see her face.

[01:10:39] And the moment you insult Naya Racine, Racine is going to handle you. And we, we saw that even in the opening scene. So yeah, I was like, he did. And yeah, after she gave him the really cool lap dance. Yeah. He, he, he was done for. Yeah. Uh, meanwhile, Anaya is in the other room revealing her insecurities to the other brother. She eventually tells him that someone set her on fire and that's

[01:11:06] how she ended up like this. Uh, but her twin senses are tingling because she could feel that Anaya had just done a bad thing. And, um, I'm sorry, Racine had just done a bad thing. Yeah. And, uh, uh, Scotch stumbles into the room, bloodied, leaving him to, uh, like die at the end, right in front of his brother. And I thought this was so sad, not only because, you know, they're essentially innocent here. Uh, but now it's like two twins are watching the other two twins die, you know,

[01:11:36] like kind of like that bond, that twinned, you know, bond that they have. We watched what that looks like from the girl's side. And now when we meet the boys, we see them, what it looks like when they're torn apart from each other. And so like, although the heroes of this story are Racine and Anaya, you know, it was hard to root for them when they're killing innocent people. Exactly. Exactly. And like even Anaya couldn't, didn't mess with it. Cause she wanted to, um,

[01:12:04] she, she basically tried to fight Razine after she killed Scotch and just hearing, um, what was his name? I can't even remember the other one's name, like wailing in the back. And he was like, twin, twin. It was, it was so sad, but also that also made me Riley. Yes. Riley. I was also like, you know, twins have to run in the mother's family, not the father's for that to be a thing. But anyways,

[01:12:29] that's neither here nor there. You know? Yeah. Um, but yeah. And so they're, they're about to fight, but Anaya ends up, uh, getting the jump on Racine a little bit and her and Riley run off together. And she's thinking she's found a friend and he starts choking her. And I'm like,

[01:12:56] well, y'all did come kill my brother, you know? Exactly. It was like, yeah, it was like he, it's fine that he's doing this, but also it's not fine. Cause I was like, oh, now you got to die too. Yeah. Um, so of course they kill him too, leaving him drowning in the pool, uh, right. As, uh, Sterling K Brown shows up to see the carnage. He sees his son, uh, bloodied on the floor. He sees the

[01:13:22] other son in the pool, but he is oddly calm about this. Um, Racine, Racine is knocked out. Uh, she took, uh, some hits in that fight with Anaya and with, uh, Riley. So she's knocked out. And, uh, so Anaya has to take a watch over her and hide her underneath the coffee table while they're hiding from Sterling K Brown's character. Now, one thing I haven't flagged up yet is that earlier in the film, when they first met God, their mom, she said, Hey, you got something else going on with you.

[01:13:52] And when they asked what, she doesn't really talk about it. Mari, I knew when she said that, I said, you know, how'd that go? Uh, and so I was just waiting on the big reveal. Turns out Anaya is pregnant by this man who won't even have sex with her facing each other because of, you know, the burns. And so, uh, now in this moment, she's hiding under the table and in facing her father alone. Um, now he's very calmly asking her kind of like a Q and a situation,

[01:14:20] which one of my kids did you kill first? You know, why did you do it? Instead going back and forth, back and forth. And he's telling her like, you know, um, I could kill you, but you're pregnant and I don't want to do that. I want to kill my only grandchild that I could ever have now. But I mean, essentially, cause I mean, you killed all my kids and my wife. So, you know, I'm probably going to

[01:14:43] let you go. There was no point where, uh, he was going to let her go. Uh, but it sounded good. He also told her that, you know, I got it mean to do that to your mom. I was, you know, I'm sorry, but I just couldn't let her, uh, she wouldn't let me hold her. It was just full of shit the entire time. And so, yeah, he was gaslighting. He was all the things, uh, and eventually trigger warning

[01:15:08] for that. Yeah. Oh yeah. If you are not a fan of domestic violence or even any other type of abuse, this is not for you. Yeah. None of that. Like all of that is involved in this. So this seemingly calm and well put together guy just snaps. They end up fighting. Anaya ends up jumping, uh, jumping in. I'm sorry. Racine ends up jumping in to join Anaya and the two of them, uh, end up beating the hell out of him. And, and thankfully, cause he was getting with them for a very long time. They relish

[01:15:38] in beating him up. They ended up taking him to the bathroom, throwing him in the bathtub and burning him and finally being able to look down on somebody and call them ugly when they've always had to deal with that on their own. But with his last bit of strength, Anaya had alluded to this earlier. It's like, Hey, we can't burn them alive. Cause what if he grabs one of us and takes them with us? Well, they try to burn them alive. And what does he do? He grabs Racine and drags her into the bathtub,

[01:16:06] leaving Anaya forced to run out of the burning building and watch as the last two remaining members of her family burn alive. Mari, pretty much where the movie ends. Yeah, it was the ending was so crazy. It was like, I don't know, man. It like, again, it's like swarm because even though you're rooting for a protagonist who's sitting here killing like multiple people,

[01:16:33] it's like, you can't really be on their side type thing. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just too much violence and it's like violence begets violence. And, um, Sterling K Brown, like, I loved how he played this character. So we're finally seeing the full weight of him. And it's like, it's like the full weight of him is pressing, right? It's the, the manipulation is the, she falls for it a second time for a second time in less than 20 minutes. Like she,

[01:17:02] she's like, she falls for like the nice guy act and he immediately like slaps her or whatever. But like Sterling K Brown's choice to play this character with that soft voice, that very soft, almost of a high pitch voice. Yeah. It was, it was very like meek. So yes, it's so scary. It's so

[01:17:24] scary. Um, but you know, they think they get their revenge, but again, he pulls Racine, um, into the fire Naya, it's just her. She's, she's like, she's alone for the first time ever in her life. Um, she has to, you know, be strong for her and her, her baby. And we're left on like a picture of her and her baby. I'm like, how am I supposed to feel about this? Like, yeah, it's just family

[01:17:53] destruction through and through. And, um, overall great movie. Again, that, that feeling of that was Western, that feeling of that black, black exploitation, the feeling of so many of these different genres coming together in a cohesive way was amazing. So I did like the movie and I'll definitely recommend the movie. It was just brutal though, that ending. Yeah. Uh, vintage doesn't know

[01:18:19] where the blood will land or something to that effect. And that's where they were told. And I mean, I think that's a story that has been told before, you know, where people get blinded by revenge and they go and they, they become the bad guy. I think for Racine, she very much did that. Right. Like even the idea that she would burn somebody alive and watch them, that's your, that's her villain origin story. And now she's doing that to somebody else. Uh, she took pleasure

[01:18:46] in the things that she was doing to other people. This was not about her mom anymore. This was about her and her, she got lost, you know, and, uh, and what that looked like. And so I thought it was a great movie. Uh, I have not seen a lot of people say negative things about it. And so, and I think that's good because, uh, like I personally don't care about reviews, uh, cause I'm a review my damn self and determine if I like it or not. And I liked it. Now I did see somebody say it was the next

[01:19:12] sinners. I don't know about all that, but at the same time, like every movie, not going to be sinners. And the way we build a lexicon of films that we go back and watch in these new classics is we give them a chance and give new filmmakers a chance as well. And so again, big shout out to, uh, director Harris here on this, uh, breakout, um, you know, film. And I can't wait to see what else is coming for her, but Mari, what else do you have coming on in your neck of the woods?

[01:19:41] Well, uh, over on crime scene, me and Sarah Kerrigan, we are review, reviewing the crash coming up, the Netflix documentary, the crash, which has been making a lot of buzz. We're, we also are dropping the cult of the nature boy. You should, that should be in your feed right now. So make sure you go to crime scene pod.com in order to subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Of course,

[01:20:03] again, if you want some cups, go to my merch store. Yeah. Go to my merch store, go to maricraftstomuch.bigcartel.com in order to get your bookish themed cups. Uh, what else? What do you got? Uh, Chappelle, that's it. Uh, you know, flavor of love content over with, uh, with Chantel and then, uh, whatever comes up next for recap kickback. I think I still wanted to talk, talk about that Netflix show.

[01:20:31] I think there's another one that just dropped too. Which one? The nemesis, nemesis, a man on fire. I heard nemesis was horrible. I heard nemesis was horrible. I heard that might be more fun to talk about it. People are blaming it. Well, if that's the case, we don't need to move that up the list. Uh, but yeah, so check out recap kickback.com youtube.com slash at recap kickback and subscribe recap kickback.com slash subscribe to keep up with that and much, much more. Make sure you follow us on

[01:20:58] social media at recap kickback on all social media platforms, but that's it for Mari and for myself, please go watch is God is, and tell us know what you think about it here in the comments. We'll talk to y'all next time. Peace.