“Premature” isn’t original, but it feels that way. A tender, naturalistic romance set in Harlem, this sophomore feature from Rashaad Ernesto Green takes a slight story and packs it with attitude and feeling. Every moment rings true, the vividly textured locations and knockabout relationships more visited than created.
Unwaveringly focused on Ayanna (a captivating Zora Howard), 17, during the summer before she leaves for college, the movie deftly alternates between two distinct tones. One is sassy and jocular, as Ayanna, a coolly confident would-be writer, hangs out with her boisterous group of girlfriends. The other is slow and sexy, a cocoon of infatuation that envelops her when she meets the sweetly chivalrous Isaiah (Joshua Boone). A fledgling music producer, Isaiah is a little older, but — as we shall soon learn — not much wiser.
Lifted above its narrative clichés by the poetry of the writing and the vibrancy of the filmmaking, “Premature” is tastefully explicit, the lovers’ intimacy filmed (by Laura Valladao) with an old-fashioned dreaminess that’s effortlessly erotic. The dialogue has swagger and swing, and the performances are close to flawless. Michelle Wilson, as Ayanna’s stoic single mother, has too few opportunities to flex; but her look of hopeless resignation when she learns that her daughter might have blown her future is quietly devastating.
Issues of race — like the unexpected appearance of Isaiah’s white ex-girlfriend — rear up and recede, woven easily into the fabric of a movie that’s unafraid of ambiguity. As its title indicates, neither Ayanna nor Isaiah is yet mature; she’s just a bit further along that road than he is.
Premature
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
