Candice Frederick

"Judas and the Black Messiah" has far too much in common with "The Departed." Obviously, director Shaka King's film centers on Black characters, while Martin Scorsese's Boston-set entry does not. But the general concept — a crime thriller about a man covertly working with law enforcement who infiltrates a group considered to be their threat, to eviscerate its strongest force — is the same.
It's an awkward comparison to make because, in actuality, these films shouldn't have many similarities. ...

Like so many of us watching the world burn, writer-director Rose Glass has wrestled with her faith. She grew up attending Catholic schools in the U.K. and has vicars in her family, so the thought of questioning her Christianity stayed dormant for years. But now, on the cusp of her unsettling debut film, Saint Maud, she reflects on what she didn’t articulate back then: “It’s like, who’s calling me?”
Enter the titular Maud, née Katie (Morfydd Clark), a reclusive hospice worker who’s recently re...

There’s a burst of energy when Clarice co-creator Jenny Lumet hops onto Zoom for our afternoon conversation about her astute new thriller series, inspired by the indelible heroine from The Silence of the Lambs. Donning a bright smile, casual shirt, and sun-kissed hair, the New York native has the glow of someone who’s lived in Los Angeles her entire life—not just the last two years. “I've also had, like, nine Diet Cokes, so I'm pretty caffeinated,” she laughs.
Lumet has a lot of joy in her li...

The update of Shakespeare's tale of star-crossed lovers premiered at Sundance but the update falls short
Welcome to TheGrio Top 3 x DCP with Shana Pinnock -Halle Berry on the criticism she can't 'keep' a man: 'Who said I wanted to keep them? -Reporter gives up covering Biden for a relationship with his aide: ‘Didn’t think twice’ -Yahoo Sports reporter Terez Paylor is dead at 37: 'Shocked and saddened
Much about director Carey Williams’ R#J, a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo a...

It’s been nearly 23 years since Lauren Ambrose played a teen in Can’t Hardly Wait who begrudgingly attends a graduation house party where she begins to contemplate the rest of her life, but the actress still likes to ponder her own journey. A lot has changed since she was in the beloved high school comedy, though, and even since she was angsty Claire Fisher on HBO’s iconic series Six Feet Under. Now, on the eerie series Servant, she delves into a side of herself that is dearest to her heart: ...

REVIEW: Even with its constantly rotating cast of characters, all of which are underdrawn and indecipherable, and its progressively madcap plot, 'First Date' is a weak entry into the genre
We’ve seen it before. The shy, doe-eyed teenage boy that is awkwardly pulled into a whole host of hijinks as he secretly pines for the girl who barely even know he exists. Think Michael Cera in Superbad or, well, many of his other movies. Or the young boys on Freak and Geeks. It’s an age-old shtick that Hol...

REVIEW: 'Ailey' attempts to demystify an admired yet enigmatic man, but only manages to provoke more unanswered questions
It seems like fans have been waiting forever to see a comprehensive film on beloved choreographer Alvin Ailey, the man who revolutionized dance and opened a now iconic theater, where artists from all backgrounds have mastered their crafts.
While much has been written and said about the legacy of his work, there hasn’t been a significant movie or TV series that has delved i...

“This is not a love story. This is the story of love.” The bare-bones black-and-white trailer for Malcolm & Marie prepares its audience for a dish-smashing, insult-hurling, love-making saga familiar to any couple with unresolved issues stuck together in quarantine. And the movie certainly delivers on that front. But it’s the specificities of this couple—a Black director (John David Washington) basking in recent success and his gorgeous, professionally stunted younger girlfriend (Zendaya)—that...

In 2018, Rebecca Hall made headlines announcing her directorial debut of Passing, the film adaptation of Nella Larsen’s seminal novella of the same name.
Passing has been widely revered in the Black community since its 1929 publication, and needless to say, people had some criticism about what was perceived to be yet another white filmmaker helming a Black story. There’s never really a question of if one can handle the material well; it’s whether they should.
But Hall is a rare example of an ...

'It’s more than a concert film,' the debut director said while introducing the documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival
There was hazy, hot and humid weather Black New Yorkers equally detest and enjoy in the summer of 1969, but folks rocking afros and tank tops were happy to stand shoulder to shoulder on the lawn of Mount Morris Park in Harlem for a six-week long Black music festival. All the big names hit the stage—from the Staples Singers and Stevie Wonder to Nina Simone and Sly an...

It's kind of nice that amid the utter mayhem that is the real world, Netflix has gifted viewers with Firefly Lane, a soapy, breezy friendship drama that exists entirely outside of it. But it does present an interesting question: How much is too much escapism?
As seen by the polarizing responses to Bridgerton, an equally digestible contribution from the streamer that all but demands you shut off your inquisitive minds, audiences still crave some sense that what they're watching lies within a l...

At the beginning of All American, the CW drama following a Black teen (Daniel Ezra) struggling to reconcile his Compton identity with his promising new life as a football star living in Beverly Hills, it explored questions of Blackness, colorism, and privilege through a mostly singular coming-of-age story. Now, as that narrative continues to evolve in All American Season 3, we see some of those same themes play out with varying degrees of success, and a central character grappling with a seem...

Ask any Audrey Hepburn fan what they love most about her, and you’ll get a variety of responses: her undeniable beauty and imitable style. Her magnetic presence on film. Her girl-next-door appeal. For so many of her fans, especially women, she wasn’t just a glamorous movie star and humanitarian—she was the embodiment of perfection. But in Audrey, director Helena Coan’s enthralling new documentary, the late superstar’s flawless veneer gently drops away to reveal something far more stirring: au...

Major spoilers for Pieces of a Woman below.
Director Kornél Mundruczó’s drama, Pieces of a Woman, has all the ingredients for a remarkable film in its unrelenting look at a wife (Vanessa Kirby) reeling from the death of her baby just minutes after birth. But as much as the film puts the agony of a woman’s experience into razor-sharp focus—including an excruciating, 23-minute labor scene that makes her ensuing grief even more palpable—it fails to live up to the promise of own title, neglecting...

Major spoilers for Promising Young Woman below.
As satisfying as it is to watch a woman flip the script on sleazy guys at the bar and confront the people who enabled her friend's rape, Promising Young Woman is more profoundly a devastating reflection of a woman consumed with grief.
No scene in writer-director Emerald Fennell’s audacious debut feature captures this better than when Cassie (Carey Mulligan) sits down with her friend Nina’s mom, Mrs. Fischer (Molly Shannon), roughly seven years a...