NARRATIVE CENTERPIECE
WARNING: THIS FILM CONTAINS SCENES OF HOMOPHOBIC AND POLICE VIOLENCE.
Tunde Johnson (Steven Silver) is a gay, upper-middle class, African-American teen living in Los, Angeles with his Nigerian immigrant parents. Tunde is a high school senior with dreams of studying film after he graduates. Tunde has friends who care about him and family who loves him. And before the day is over, Tunde Johnson will be dead, needlessly killed at the hands of the police.
But after dying, Tunde wakes with a jolt, gasping for air in his own bed. Then he lives through the day all over again, until inevitably he has another run-in with the police. And it happens again, the day looping repeatedly, always with the same tragic outcome. Every time he wakes with a variation of the same words echoing in his head: “On the night of May 28, 2020, Tunde Johnson departed this life at 9:38 p.m. at the hands of police officers in Los Angeles, California.”
With each repetition, we learn more about Tunde’s existence. We first meet him as he’s finally worked up the nerve to come out to his accepting and supportive parents. We also learn he’s been dating a handsome lacrosse jock named Soren (Spencer Neville), who’s not ready to come out. Soren’s scared of what his peers might think, and how his father, a conservative TV personality, might react. So Tunde’s been forced to stay quiet as his boyfriend engages in a public relationship with Tunde's pretty best friend Marley (Nicola Peltz), while keeping their own romance a secret.
Every time the day resets, Tunde questions the decisions he made, wondering if doing things even slightly differently might have kept him from a terrible fate. What if he’d waited to come out to his parents? What if he and Soren had come clean to Marley sooner? What if he hadn’t gotten high earlier that day? What if he’d been driving a different car?
What if.
What if.
What if.
The details change, but it seems that nothing Tunde does will ever alter the fact that — while he may be many things to many people — to jumpy, antagonistic cops, he’ll always be viewed as a threat. But he’s sure there must be some way out of this endless cycle.
Nigerian-born Ali LeRoi makes his feature directorial debut with The Obituary of Tunde Johnson, which adds a resonant twist on “time loop” stories like Groundhog Day and Palm Springs. A powerful and tragically timely look at race, sexuality, homophobia, and police brutality, LeRoi’s film becomes an urgent exploration of how it feels to be Black in America today.
~ Adam Lubitow
Official Selection – Toronto International Film Festival
Audience Award, Debut Narrative Feature – Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival
Official Selection – Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival
Official Selection – Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival
- Year2019
- Runtime104 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- DirectorAli LeRoi
NARRATIVE CENTERPIECE
WARNING: THIS FILM CONTAINS SCENES OF HOMOPHOBIC AND POLICE VIOLENCE.
Tunde Johnson (Steven Silver) is a gay, upper-middle class, African-American teen living in Los, Angeles with his Nigerian immigrant parents. Tunde is a high school senior with dreams of studying film after he graduates. Tunde has friends who care about him and family who loves him. And before the day is over, Tunde Johnson will be dead, needlessly killed at the hands of the police.
But after dying, Tunde wakes with a jolt, gasping for air in his own bed. Then he lives through the day all over again, until inevitably he has another run-in with the police. And it happens again, the day looping repeatedly, always with the same tragic outcome. Every time he wakes with a variation of the same words echoing in his head: “On the night of May 28, 2020, Tunde Johnson departed this life at 9:38 p.m. at the hands of police officers in Los Angeles, California.”
With each repetition, we learn more about Tunde’s existence. We first meet him as he’s finally worked up the nerve to come out to his accepting and supportive parents. We also learn he’s been dating a handsome lacrosse jock named Soren (Spencer Neville), who’s not ready to come out. Soren’s scared of what his peers might think, and how his father, a conservative TV personality, might react. So Tunde’s been forced to stay quiet as his boyfriend engages in a public relationship with Tunde's pretty best friend Marley (Nicola Peltz), while keeping their own romance a secret.
Every time the day resets, Tunde questions the decisions he made, wondering if doing things even slightly differently might have kept him from a terrible fate. What if he’d waited to come out to his parents? What if he and Soren had come clean to Marley sooner? What if he hadn’t gotten high earlier that day? What if he’d been driving a different car?
What if.
What if.
What if.
The details change, but it seems that nothing Tunde does will ever alter the fact that — while he may be many things to many people — to jumpy, antagonistic cops, he’ll always be viewed as a threat. But he’s sure there must be some way out of this endless cycle.
Nigerian-born Ali LeRoi makes his feature directorial debut with The Obituary of Tunde Johnson, which adds a resonant twist on “time loop” stories like Groundhog Day and Palm Springs. A powerful and tragically timely look at race, sexuality, homophobia, and police brutality, LeRoi’s film becomes an urgent exploration of how it feels to be Black in America today.
~ Adam Lubitow
Official Selection – Toronto International Film Festival
Audience Award, Debut Narrative Feature – Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival
Official Selection – Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival
Official Selection – Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival
- Year2019
- Runtime104 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- DirectorAli LeRoi