A Review of We
Grown Now by Olszyk
Distribution Service: Theatrical
MPAA Rating, PG
USCCB Rating, Not rated at the time of this review
Reel Rating, Five Reels
We Grown Now opens with two kids, Malik
(Blake James) and Eric (Gain Rameriz) struggling to take an old mattress down
several flights of stairs. While pivoting and grunting, they shoot the breeze
about school, sports, and their favorite tv shows. They drag the ratty old
thing across an inner-city basketball court with weeds growing through cracks
before throwing it in a heap of similar specimens. Along with their neighbors,
they play a game called Jumpin, which is exactly what it sounds like. They run
as fast as they can, then jump into the pile in as stylish a way as possible.
It’s a profound beginning to a nearly perfect story: seemingly trapped in a
cycle of crime and poverty these young men use what little they must create a
life of fun, creativity, and meaning. By and large, they succeed.
Malik is an
intelligent, capable 12 year-old living with his sister, mom, and grandmother
in the Cabrini-Green housing project on the North Side of Chicago. By the
1990s, more than 15,000 people lived in these government subsidized apartments
which had become notorious for gangs, crime, drugs, and poverty. The film
follows him as he goes about being a normal kid: playing with his best friend
Eric, doing his homework, shooting hoops, and getting into trouble. Through his
eyes, we also see some of the wider world including the results of absentee
fatherhood, his mother’s financial difficulties, and gang activity in his
building. Despite all this, Malik carves out a niche in this landscape, which
makes his mother’s decision on a possible move more difficult.
It’s an
easy temptation in an expose of this sort to overdramatize the socio-economic
problems Malik faces, but the film wisely avoids these pitfalls. His family is
poor but not destitute. They might have boxed mac’n’cheese with broccoli for
dinner, but never go hungry. They occasionally witness violence but don’t live
in paranoid fear of being killed every day. The police are aggressive and
sometimes engage in unconstitutional behavior, but they are not cartoonishly
racist or murderous, even sympathetic at times. Like the great Italian
neo-realist directors, Minhal Baig allows her characters to live directly and
honestly, creating empathy in the audience without emotional manipulation. Yet
these circumstances don’t define the characters. I was reminded of a quote Mike
Huckabee gave during a campaign rally about his own upbring, “I didn’t think I
was poor, I thought I was just like everybody else.”
While
poverty often feels like a burden, it can bring unexpected silver linings. In a
life absent from material crutches, both families rely on their faith. There
are frequent mentions of God, prayer, and morality. Malik wonders about the
complexities of spacetime and freely talks with Eric about the afterlife. None
of this is presented as either absurd or self-righteous. Normal, healthy people
contemplate spirituality. When Malik’s classmate dies from a gang member’s
stray bullet, he attends the funeral where a Baptist preacher gives a beautiful
sermon not on racial politics but the assurance of Christ’s grace amid horrible
tragedy. My personal favorite moment occurs when someone challenges Malik’s
mother for celebrating his father’s birthday even though he died five years
ago. “I want my children to know their grandfather,” she says with a smile. The
gates of heaven are not iron but pearly.
What
ultimately elevates We Grown Now from a good film about urban struggle
to a masterpiece are James and Rameriz’s performances, some of the best I’ve
ever seen from child actors. When Eric learns Malik is moving, he pretends to be
nonchalant but starts a fight with him that causes a serious injury. After
Malik recovers, Eric says a prayer with his dad asking God to bless Malik even
if he goes. In the final scene, they make their peace, and as Malik walks away,
Eric sheds a single tear. The pain, loss, and joy of all their years of
friendship is contained in these quiet, anguished expressions.
We Grown
Now belongs to a unique class of cinema that is difficult for the average
moviegoer. These films aren’t glamorous and thrilling but quietly and firmly
share essential truths. Like the apartment’s saintly namesake, God works wonders
through the courage and sacrifice of ordinary humans who, despite economic
hardship and dangerous situations, do not become despondent or indignant but
respond with love and courage. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
This article first appeared in Catholic World Report on May 12th, 2024.
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