Movie Review: Fast Color (2018)

Summary: A woman is forced to go on the run when her superhuman abilities are discovered. Years after having abandoned her family, the only place she has left to hide is home.

This is a short review.

Pros:

Cast and Characters.

• Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ruth. I’ve always liked her and I think she’s a very good actress and she’s generally always likable in whatever role she plays. I least I think so. Her character gets to go through a lot of emotional turmoil and she’s SO GOOD AT IT. You really feel for her but you’re not quite sure why you feel for her. Ruth’s powers aren’t really explained or even talked about early on, we just see her having seizures and causing things to happen. It’s really cool but it’s like wait what?? As the film goes on, we see her try to fall back into an easy rhythm and it’s nice. I think the last 20 minutes though were her best moments! She is the highlight of the film.

• Lorraine Toussaint as Bo. She is Ruth’s mother and the guardian of Lila and she’s been doing her thing with Lila and they’ve managed for 8 years. When Ruth comes home, she’s a bit wary because of whatever issues they had when Ruth left. However, she’s willing to help Ruth, she is her daughter after all, but she wants to protect Lila at all costs. We learn little things about Bo as the film goes on and she really gets to shine towards the end. Lorraine Toussaint first of all, has a great voice, such texture! I could listen to her read a book! But she is really great here and I really like the protectiveness and strength she has throughout the film. The ending with her was super great.

• Saniyya Sidney as Lila. She’s really cute and I really liked her. I’ve seen her in Fences and something else I think, but I think she’s good. She’s super sassy when she needs to be but she also comes off very mature. I think she’s about 8 or 9 in the film but she feels older and maybe it’s because of the world she grew up in, I don’t know but she does a really good job. Her character is likable, she’s not annoying and I thought she had really good chemistry with both Gugu and Lorraine. I’m interested in seeing a sequel with her and Gugu mixing it up in a new location.

The Powers. We haven’t quite seen powers like this before. I don’t want to give away what they can do but they all seem to have the same abilities, maybe some are stronger than others, perhaps that’s only when they get older, but still. I think how its handled is really cool, the effects are simple but effective. Not to mention, the inclusion of the color aspect of what they seen when they use their powers… once we see them as a viewer, it’s really beautiful.

Interesting Story. I think there is a lot of interest here and I actually wish this was a television series or something to have more explored. Maybe they’ll do a sequel because it ended like there could be one and I think there is ton of potential for a sequel. Anyway, you have Ruth who is on the run from these mysterious men, it’s always people who want to dissect the things they don’t understand but then you have her reconnecting with her mom and daughter who also have abilities. It’s really something we’ve seen before but we’ve never seen a family of black women with special abilities and having to deal with the struggles of that along with other human issues such as abandonment, addiction and what not. Plus, the whole idea of it hasn’t rained for 8 years and water is on short supply and the world seems to be a bit broken is always interesting if handled correctly.

Slow Burn. This is very much a slow burn kind of film. Honestly you have no idea what’s going on when the movie is happening. I mean, you get little nuggets as it goes on and you can put the story together on your own and I like that most times. Especially if it feels like it’s going to lead to something in the end. I thought it was nice to see how the issues between the women unfold.

Beautiful Score. Rob Simonsen does the score in this film and I think it’s subtle but beautiful. I think it’s at its best in the last 20 minutes, because it’s so soft but triumphant that I just can’t. It’s a really nice musical score. I checked his credits and he’s done some really good film scores for some good movies in the past.

Cons:

Doesn’t Quite Tackle the Issues. There’s a lot of issues that come up in this film and I don’t quite think the film tackles all of them to the point where it feels resolved. It doesn’t feel resolved in a way that allows us to think they accomplished anything between them. They have really nice moments but it doesn’t feel like the issues created were fixed. I don’t know if that makes sense but if you watch this, you’ll know what I mean.

Uneven Storytelling. I think this movie unfortunately suffers from “okay storytelling”, I think I get the style of the film but I’m not sure if it works the way they wanted it to. There’s a lot of going to places in the beginning, silence, talking to strangers and then we’re moving again. Then we get stuck at the mom’s house, which is cool, and we get some random scenes in there with this sheriff and the guys who are following Ruth. I mean, in the greater scheme of the story I get it, but it feels out of place and not as interesting as what’s going on with Ruth, Bo and Lila. Let’s get back to that!

Overall, I really liked Fast Color. I think the acting is really good from all three of our lead actresses, particularly with Gugu Mbatha-Raw leading the charge, she’s really strong. I think the powers are handled really well in what we see of them and how they’re used. It’s really unique from the normal superpowers we see in film and TV these days. I would really like to see more of them. There is a really interesting story in here and it’s a slow burn which works mostly for this film. Plus, the music is really good! I do think the story suffers from uneven storytelling and that the film doesn’t quite tackle and resolve all the issues it presents. Listen, if you want to see a movie about black women and how they make it through their situations, and they happen to have abilities that are a big part of who they are, especially as this isn’t a story we’ve seen before, you should watch this. I think it’s highly worth it. It’s not very long being 100 minutes and it’s really beautiful. It has it issues but I think the pros outweigh the cons with also attributes to the amount of potential I see here. Plus, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is really good!

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars. 

I really feel like this film should have been a television series or a mini-series or something because there’s so much potential story here and while I really liked the film, it’s just not enough and not as clear and I would have liked it to be.

Have you seen Fast Color? Have you heard about it? If not, check it out and let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

If you could have superpowers, what would you choose to have? For me, it’s always telekinesis because there’s SO MUCH to be done with that lol.