‘They Cloned Tyrone’ Review: There’s Only One John Boyega

“They Cloned Tyrone,” an formidable, nightmarish story about unsettled id, opens with a picture of two blue eyes, strained on the corners. The digital camera pulls again, revealing the proprietor of these peepers to be a grinning white man on a billboard with the tagline “Keep em’ smiling.” In entrance of the commercial, Black individuals debate potential sightings of Tupac Shakur and Michael Jackson, now allegedly disguising himself with new Black pores and skin. The meals mart, with the billboard prominently displayed by its door, is the place these gossiping Black people maintain courtroom, and is without doubt one of the many establishments that dot the uncared for, fictional city panorama its residents check with because the Glen.

The director, Juel Taylor, sees the Glen as a self-contained world the place conspiracy theories are the news part and the neighborhood drunk (Leon Lamar) is a prophet. At the middle of it’s Fontaine (John Boyega), a multifaceted drug seller. Whenever he buys a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor from the meals mart, he by no means hesitates to pour a cup for Lamar. He’ll look after his mom, who’s sick, and likewise mercilessly ram an unsuspecting seller along with his automotive.

Fontaine’s ethical compass is survival. The identical might be stated of the shifty pimp, Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), who dispenses ladies like Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris) with the reassurance they’ll all the time come again. While amassing a debt from Slick Charles, Fontaine is savagely gunned down by the seller he hit earlier. Despite the taking pictures, Fontaine awakes the following morning unscathed. Was it a dream or one thing extra nefarious?

The first hour of “They Cloned Tyrone” is surprisingly talkative. Fontaine, Slick Charles, and Yo-Yo — shady neighborhood acquaintances — group as much as examine Fontaine’s brush with loss of life, sharing extraneous banter that always crowds the narrative and slows the reveal. The three finally uncover a collection of elevators in acquainted haunts that result in a subterranean laboratory. Taylor positions these websites as locations the place an out of doors pressure can simply undermine the Black neighborhood, rendering it pliant via meals, faith and wonder merchandise. You surprise, nonetheless, whether or not the movie is portraying these areas as essential websites for escapist pleasure or scrutinizing them as crutches.

Another fascinating proposition arises when a Black character utters the phrase “assimilation is better than annihilation.” The movie covers problems with upward mobility, respectability politics, racial passing, and the mistrust some African Americans have of institutional professionals such because the police, docs and scientists. Taylor portrays Black self-hatred as a hazard equal to those extensions of white contempt.

A play on “The Truman Show” by means of “Undercover Brother,” “They Cloned Tyrone” additionally stands firmly on its shiny type — the evocatively smoky John Carpenter-esque cinematography and the Blaxploitation-inspired costumes — and its spirited performances. Even when the dialogue runs lengthy and the movie’s frights supply much less terror than you’d need in a sci-fi-mystery flick, an impressed Foxx, a subversive Parris, and a ruthless but melancholic Boyega, who shoulders the majority of the dramatic weight, retrofit widespread stereotypes of city Black life into the wealthy, dynamic humanism of its actuality.

They Cloned Tyrone
Rated R for profanity and nude physique doubles. Running time: 2 hours, 2 minutes. Watch on Netflix or in theaters.