In the early moments of “All Day and a Night,” a gut-wrenching drama now streaming on Netflix, comes an emotional courtroom scene. Jahkor Lincoln (Ashton Sanders) sits with a look of stoic resignation in a room packed with the loved ones of the two people he has murdered. Before the judge delivers Jahkor’s life sentence, the mother of one of the deceased stands to speak. “My granddaughter is only 10 years old,” she says. “You took away her whole family and never even given a reason why. That’s all I want to know. Why?”
The rest of the film tries to answer that question by chronicling the conditions — both immediate and long-term — that led Jahkor to commit homicide. The movie hops through time to capture three different periods in Jahkor’s life, revealing that as a child he faced bullies both inside and outside of his home. His father, JD (Jeffrey Wright), abused him in the name of “tough love.” “It’s dog eat man out there,” JD says to Jahkor’s mother, Tommetta (an affecting Regina Taylor), after he finds out someone stole the boy’s toy on the playground. “If he don’t learn that in here, he ain’t going to make it.”
The idea of “making it” haunts the second period, which follows Jahkor navigating a turf war between rival gangs and the trials of young adulthood, all while attempting to pursue a career in music and maintain a relationship with his girlfriend (Shakira Ja’nai Paye, in a compelling performance). The third period sees him in prison, coming face-to-face again with his father who is also serving time, and embarking on a journey of belated self-discovery.
Growing up in Oakland wasn’t easy — for Jahkor, his family or his friends — and, Joe Robert Cole, who wrote and directed the film, effectively shows how certain systems in the United States prime its black citizens for failure. A high rate of incarceration, coupled with chronic divestment in entire communities, means that cycles of poverty become nearly impossible to break. Choice, for many, is an illusion. This message repeats itself throughout the film, and while at times it feels clumsy, it is never tedious. Sanders especially shines among a formidable cast, and in his portrayal, excellently reflects on the herculean task his character faces: How do you believe in yourself when it seems like no one else does? The answer, we eventually learn, is that it’s complicated.
All Day and a Night
Rated R. Running time: 2 hours 1 minute. Watch on Netflix.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
