All Day and a Night (2020)

After making a striking breakout in Moonlight, Ashton Sanders gives another standout performance in All Day and a Night, the story of a man reflecting on his life as he goes to prison for the rest of his life. The film sometimes feels like it gets a little lost, but it is anchored by Sanders' remarkable presence and powerful performance.

Writer/director Cole takes the idea of "why?" and runs with it. As a murder goes to jail he thinks back to all the points which lead him to where he is. The film takes the position his journey was pretty much inevitable. "We were born in prison." He makes us look through the eyes of that man, makes us experience his humanity. There is a strong desire in many of us to dismiss criminals as nothing more than what they did and All Day and a Night is an attempt to make that impossible. He is a son and a father. He is abused and an abuser.  He is a fully rounded human with all the baggage that brings. And his situation he was born into carves out who he can be as the best choices he is presented with are still dire. The film dares us to reckon with whether or not we could have been any different in his shoes.

The film sometimes falls into cliches and I get why. There is a reason we've seen these stories before. Yet there is a sense of redemption and release presented which keeps it from being too nihilist. What keeps All Day and a Night from being just another of these stories is Cole's rich and layered approach to his narrative paired with Sanders' complex and lush performance. In the end the story of Jahkor is one that demands you pay attention, even if it isn't overly original. It is their honesty which makes it work.

All Day and a Night
Starring: Ashton Sanders, Jeffrey Wright, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Regina Taylor, Jalyn Emil Hall
Writer/Director: Joe Robert Cole