(courtesy IMP Awards)
SNAPSHOT
A pulpy, sci-fi mystery caper in which an unlikely trio investigates a series of eerie events, alerting them to a nefarious conspiracy lurking directly beneath their hood. Fontaine, a neighborhood drug dealer, is shot dead by rival Isaac and then is very shocked to wake up in his bed the next morning unharmed. He and Slick Charles and Yo-Yo begin looking into the incident, and their search eventually leads them to a vast underground complex where a government – backed lab is performing experiments on the local Black population. Realizing that he is an artificial clone controlled by Nixon, Fontaine initially feels despair, but decides he needs to stand up to these white institutional overlords for the sake of his neighborhood. They Cloned Tyrone is directed by filmmaker Juel Taylor, making his second feature after Actors Anonymous previously, plus lots of work as a sound editor for films. The screenplay is by Tony Rettenmaier and Juel Taylor. Produced by Charles D. King, Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Stephen “Dr.” Love, Kim Roth, Jamie Foxx. (courtesy First Showing)
Described by First Showing as “a totally radical sci-fi throwback adventure”, They Cloned Tyrone looks like a brilliantly fun film with a very serious purpose.
Cutting right to the heart of issues like personal and collective identity, community and institutionalised racism, the film looks like it has a lot to say and a inventively enjoyable way of saying that, ticking all the cinematic boxes at once.
The good news is we don’t have long to wait for this rollicking ride into the darkness of humanity and the rightous lightness of people fighting for who they and their community want to be and for justice on an epic scale.
Strap in and get ready to ride!
They Cloned Tyrone premieres on 21 July.