X
- 2023
- R
- Focus Features
- 1 h 57 m
- 2023
- R
- Focus Features
- 1 h 57 m
Summary Unapologetic and free-spirited Inez (Teyana Taylor) kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability, in a rapidly changing New York City.
Directed By: A.V. Rockwell
Written By: A.V. Rockwell
- 2023
- R
- Focus Features
- 1 h 57 m
- 2023
- R
- Focus Features
- 1 h 57 m
A Thousand and One
5.8
Where to Watch
Summary Unapologetic and free-spirited Inez (Teyana Taylor) kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability, in a rapidly changing New York City.
Directed By: A.V. Rockwell
Written By: A.V. Rockwell
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
81
90% Positive
27 Reviews
27 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
81
90% Positive
27 Reviews
27 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It is tempting to call A Thousand and One a love letter of sorts, but a more accurate read might be one of heartbreak. There is love here, certainly, but more than that there is frustration, anger and sadness at the way the world refuses to help those trying hardest to endure within it.
The film is utterly absorbing, anchored by the unpredictable performance of Taylor, playing a hopelessly complicated, but deeply caring woman.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 29 User Ratings
5.8
59% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
14% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
28% Negative
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 29 User Ratings
5.8
59% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
14% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
28% Negative
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
Hey, Streamers! The Grand Jury Prize winner at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival recently opened in theaters. It is called A Thousand and One and stars Teyana Taylor as Inez, a determined mother who kidnaps her son, Terry, from the foster care system in New York. Inez moves Terry with her to Harlem, changes his name, and sets up a life avoiding trouble except for the changes of New York City in the 1990s. Inez and Terry rebuild their relationship and attempt to live a quiet life in order to avoid getting caught. Mother and son hijinks ensue.
A Thousand and One was written and directed by A. V. Rockwell. Rockwell has a really strong point of view as it juggles themes like motherhood, family, and even gentrification. It is a remarkable feature film debut from Rockwell, and I understand why it won the Grand Jury Prize. The plot could easily be a relegated to a TV movie, but it is elevated above that by the work of Rockwell. Additionally, Teyana Taylor's performance is powerful and supported by the really great script. In fact, Taylor has a role that feels tailor-made for her. She is very good at projecting the fierce loyalty and protectiveness of her character, Inez. She has surprisingly emotional scenes especially with the young actors that play Terry. Taylor is incredibly compelling throughout.
I guess the only pitfall of the movie is that plot machinations tend to get in the way of the compelling character drama, which veer more into that TV movie territory. At a certain point, things start to occur that feel inevitable but not necessarily organic to the story. Nevertheless, it always remains engaging and emotional.
As a side note: Teyana Taylor and Josiah Cross, who plays Terry at 17, could be the same age. That felt weird to me.
Ultimately, A Thousand and One is an impactful and emotionally engaging movie. It has a strong central performance by Teyana Taylor. A. V. Rockwell has done a great job writing and directing this movie. I can't say it's a must-see on the big screen, but if it is in your area, you should definitely check it out at a matinee with a bowl of popcorn.
Report
“A Thousand and One” is the feature debut for Writer/Director A.V. Rockwell. It’s a powerful story **** opening scene reveals Inez (actor Teyana Taylor, perhaps better known as a singer, dancer and choreographer) at Rikers Island. After her release, she reunites with her son Terry. It’s 1994. He’s six years old. She is twenty-two. Eventually, Inez decides to abduct him from a foster care system that treats him with indifference. She finds a job and begins to create a life for the two of **** texture and tone, this film has a lot of similarities to 2016 Oscar-winner “Moonlight.” We see Inez and Terry navigate Terry’s childhood, his burgeoning adolescence in 2001 and then four years later when Terry is seventeen and beginning to make some adult choices about his future. Like “Moonlight,” this film uses three different actors for Terry, each of whom effectively conveys a quiet and perpetually wary figure, constantly fearful that the tenuous life Inez has created for them will disappear. The through lines for all this are the powerful connection between Inez and Terry, two damaged people who desperately need each other, and Inez’s profound desire to give Terry a better life than she’s had. It’s Teyana Taylor’s intense, charismatic presence on the screen that holds this project together. She is fierce, loyal, combative, intense and “spicy” (her own word). Most of all, she demands independence while simultaneously recognizing that she must rely on others when everything is falling apart. It’s a riveting character study and a powerful meditation on independence and interdependence.Perhaps because of Writer/Director Rockwell’s extensive experience creating short films, “A Thousand and One” sometimes feels like a series of stand-alone observations. While the story has a comforting, slow-moving pace, it strays occasionally from the central narrative. Born and raised in Queens, Rockwell reflects a fondness for New York City that only a native can have. While focusing on the primary characters, she also takes time to note how Harlem changes as these characters move through an eleven-year period, particularly the impact on the social fabric of Rudy Giuliani’s “stop and frisk” policy and the gentrification that took place throughout the city when Michael Bloomberg was **** me, a plot twist in Act Three threatens to undermine this entire enterprise. It’s a development with no foreshadowing made all the more regrettable because it’s completely unnecessary and because it calls into question the motivation behind much of the action in the first two-thirds of this promising film.I’m excited to see what A.V. Rockwell does next. Her storytelling and her assured visual style promise great things. Hopefully, “A Thousand And One” will convince her that she has powerful stories to tell, stories that don’t need distracting plot twists to keep moviegoers’ full attention.
Report
The film brims with authenticity and the electrifying emotional intensity of the best melodramas.
It doesn’t nail everything it set out to accomplish, but A Thousand and One is a breathtaking character study of perseverance in Black motherhood.
Teyana Taylor holds her head high through it all. Even as the film falters narratively, she’s a force of nature embodying a person more than just playing a role. She captures the soul of a woman who knows her son needs her to navigate this dangerous world. And that she needs him too.
Rockwell respects her audience enough to trust that we’ll be invested in Inez and Terry’s odyssey because of the nuanced performances.
It’s a cousin to other superficially gritty but essentially cloying movies about the traumas of urban striving, such as “Precious” or “Moonlight.”
Really well acted, I enjoyed the real feel and score, but end of the day it’s just a (at times boring) lesser version of better films we’ve seen before.
Report
Production Company
Sight Unseen Pictures,
Focus Features,
Hillman Grad,
Makeready
Release Date Mar 31, 2023
Duration 1 h 57 m
Rating R
Tagline Times Change. Love stays the same.
Awards
Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards
• 2 Nominations
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Jerusalem Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
