For the longest time representations of black love were all but forbidden on the big screen, which is why films such as Love Jones, Love & Basketball, and Brown Sugar always felt so special. To be honest, it’s still extremely rare to find a true romance movie featuring people of color, but it looks like we’re getting a good one this Valentine’s Day with The Photograph, which features the unbelievable romantic pairing of Lakeith Stanfield and Issa Rae.
Already having made their mark separately in acclaimed movies and TV shows, Stanfield and Rae finally get together for a new film by writer/director Stella Meghie, an up ‘n comer who broke out with the teen romance Everything Everything, then followed it up with indie film The Weekend.
The Photograph stars Rae as a woman shattered by the sudden death of her mother. While she tries to come to grips with that loss, she also begins a relationship with a journalist writing a story on her late mother.
Also in the cast are Chanté Adams, Y’lan Noel, and Rob Morgan, Lil Rel Howery, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Teyonah Parris, Chelsea Peretti, and Courtney B. Vance.
SYNOPSIS: On Valentine’s Day, Issa Rae (HBO’s Insecure, Little) and LaKeith Stanfield (FX’s Atlanta, Sorry to Bother You) connect in a romance where a woman must learn from the secrets in her mother’s past if she is to move forward and allow herself to love and be loved. When famed photographer Christina Eames unexpectedly dies, she leaves her estranged daughter Mae Morton (Rae) hurt, angry and full of questions. When a photograph tucked away in a safe-deposit box is found, Mae finds herself on a journey delving into her mother’s early life and ignites a powerful, unexpected romance with a rising-star journalist, Michael Block (Stanfield).
This one’s going to be a smash, bank on it. I wouldn’t have ever thought of Stanfield and Rae for anything other than comedy, but The Photograph might be the steamiest film to heat up Valentine’s Day in years. Check out the trailer below.
