Till – A Brilliant Performance in A Well-Meaning Yet Flawed Biopic

The abduction and lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 is one of the most horrifying and well documented acts of racial violence. It’s a story that most audiences are familiar with, as his mother’s decision to hold an open casket funeral and invite journalists to report on the incident was a major moment within the Civil Rights movement and exposed the world to the long history of lynching and racist acts committed frequently in the U.S. Emmett Till’s story has gotten the big screen treatment in the form of Chinonye Chukwu’s biopic Till, which mainly focuses on Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till (Deadwyler) and her courageous contributions to the Civil Rights movement. 

Before Till premiered at the New York Film Festival, it already had discourse surrounding whether a story containing Black trauma of this severity should be turned into a motion picture, regardless of the importance of the story being told. Till is obviously a disturbing and emotionally devastating watch therefore those who are uncomfortable with seeing this subject matter depicted on screen should proceed with caution as some of the imagery can be triggering. 

All that being said, while Till certainly doesn’t hold back from exploring the savagery of this incident and the devastating effects it had on the victims, Chukwu directs the film through an empathic and sensitive lens. This is Chukwu’s follow-up to Clemency, which put her on the map and showed that she is an expert in extracting brilliant performances from her actors. She miraculously pulls off a tricky balancing act that required a tremendous level of skill and precision. Chukwu authentically portrays the trauma Mamie had to endure and the horrific nature of the lynching of her son in an extremely raw fashion. While the lynching is alluded to off-screen, audiences are exposed to Emmett’s bloated and dismembered body for an extensive period of time. While this can be difficult to handle and is drawn out for slightly too long, Chukwu honors Mamie’s wishes by subjecting audiences to an open casket funeral and exposing us to the brutality of this incident. It is extremely difficult to watch, but never sensationalizes the tragedy and conveys a slim glimmer of hope throughout. 

Just like Clemency, Till thrives on the strength of its central performance. Deadwyler was a standout in last year’s The Harder They Fall, but she cements herself here as a major talent within the industry. She delivers and confident and heartbreaking performance as Mamie Till, commanding every single scene that she is on screen. It is an emotionally challenging role that requires her to confront tragedy head on and find the strength to overcome it. There is a physicality to the performance that makes dramatic moments such as the trial and the open-casket funeral feel so devastatingly real, yet she also brings a level of intimacy to the film’s quieter moments. It is a miraculous feat of acting that is undoubtedly one of the best performances of the year.

While Till is certainly powerful and boasts an incredible lead performance, there are still some issues from a presentation standpoint. Visually, it is overly-glossy and has a studio aesthetic that contradicts the rawness that both Deadwyler and Chukwu bring to the film. The score is swelling and overbearing and tries to manipulate audiences to feel, instead of relying on the strength of the material. The screenplay is also slightly overly written at times, where it scenes feel scripted thus lose some of their authenticity.

In the end, despite its many flaws, Till is a powerful film with a remarkable central performance that is worth the watch granted one is capable of enduring the film’s extremely upsetting material.

still courtesy of Orion Pictures

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Tristan French