We Grown Now Movie Review

Writer/Director Minhal Baig has written with a keen eye. This beautiful coming-of-age film is filled with messages to her audience. ​

Executive producer Jurnee Smollett (Dolores) helps create the world that Baig has written by attempting to be the flawless mother in a world that’s anything but perfect. Her son Malik (Blake Cameron James) has a best friend, Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez), who’s always nearby. Dolores mothers him, too, as he no longer has his own. Mealtimes are very important. She doesn’t have much, but she can give her kids good food in their tummies before they go to bed.

The story is set around this family in 1992 and the new school year. They live in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green, a housing project initially built to be public housing for workers during WWII. By the 1960s, it was mostly only black Americans living there. The film opens in one of the units. We see the boys dragging a mattress out of it and onto the playground… to jump on. There are several in a big pile by the time they arrive with the new mattress. Who can jump higher? Whoever that is, they have a safe place to land after a hard day at school.

Cinematographer Patrick Scola, from “Pig” and “Sing Sing,” shows us how life in public housing looks and feels. How the ten-year-olds manage to fit in the good times amongst all the bad is a large part of this narrative. Malik and Eric decide to ditch school one day to have some memorable fun. They end up at the art museum. They, as did Ferris Bueller, stare hard at the paintings they run across in the building, questioning what they see. Why is a black man carrying bags for the white folks? Malik seems most moved by the paintings that include people getting on the train. He says, “Everybody’s like a dandelion seed. They’re going from place to place, and they’re just planted wherever they land.” This is deep for such a young boy.

Soon, they hear of a little boy in the community being murdered. They both handle this news differently. Dolores is distraught, letting Malik know how vital her boy is to her. After their homes are tossed by the police and they’re made to carry IDs to get back in, the boys have a philosophical discussion about the afterlife. Eric doesn’t think there is one, suggesting that once you’re gone… you’re just done. Malik ponders this, in silent disagreement.

Another critical moment in the film is when they, seemingly understanding that they have much to prove to move on from this place, create a mantra. When screaming it, they remind one another that they are someone other than where they are currently rooted. The kids yell back and forth to one another, these words, “Hey! We exist! Don’t underestimate us, and don’t forget us!” They also discuss their dreams and what they want out of life. It’s through this discussion you see they’re drifting apart. Malik is maturing and Eric still wants to play.

Dolores and her mother talk about a job opportunity that has come up. The job is in Peoria, Illinois, almost three hours from Chicago. Can Dolores uproot the children? Can she move from the only home she has ever known? Her mother pushes her to take it, reminding her that she must go to grow, or the children never will.

Jurnee Smollett’s Dolores’ is impressive, as are the performances by the boys. You believe she has feelings for them and see in their eyes that they love her. Young Eric’s father, Jason, is played by Lil Rel Howery from “Get Out.” Believing he’s doing well by his son but not really hitting the mark, he says things such as, “It’s a miracle you’re not failing more classes,” just before grounding him for showing up late for dinner. He also accidentally tells his son about something Malik still needs to drop. Minhal Baig brings on the tension with this moment.

It’ll be a heartbreaking scenario for Eric when he realizes life could drastically change. Or will it be a time he’s forced to grow up that he greets with alliance and strength? Cabrini-Green is somewhere other than where he can remain. Can he escape, too? The story was so well told that I can’t help but wonder what’s next in their lives, and you feel as if that movie will be coming in the near future. However, I’m sure Baig will leave that to our imagination.