UPDATED: The review embargo has lifted and, just like we predicted a week ago, the performance is being praised much more than the movie itself.
“Till” currently has a 66 on Metacritic (based on 9 reviews) and 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 7 reviews). THR, IndieWire and The Guardian are all mixed on the film, but have glowing praise for Deadwyler.
EARLIER: The social media embargo has lifted on Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till.” Like all other critics, I’m not allowed to publish a review until tonight at 9pm.
The reactions on Twitter were as expected: movie is by-the-books, but, wowee, Danielle Deadwyler stuns in the lead performance. She elevates the film’s quality.
The problem is the screenplay. The positives are Chukwu’s delicately artful direction and, of course, Deadwyler. You’d be a fool not to, at the very least, consider her for an Oscar nomination in the Lead Actress category.
Right now, it’s gotta be Blanchett , Robbie, Deadwyler, Williams, and Yeoh. Colman is #6.
Matt Neglia: I cannot sing the praises of Danielle Deadwyler enough. What she does here in giving a pained performance with strength & nuance is extraordinary & will be studied for years. Her final courtroom scene literally gave me chills. She’s my pick to win the Oscar for Best Actress.
Clayton Davis (Variety): Just to be clear, any potential Oscar best actress lineup that does NOT include Danielle Deadwyler for #Till, is INCORRECT and should be immediately thrown in the TRASH. This woman is a star. Through and through. Also, give Chinonye Chukwu the money to make whatever she wants.
Joey Magidson (Awards Radar): Till is a fairly standard historical biopic, but Danielle Deadwyler is excellent. Especially during a third act trial sequence, the film works best as a showcase for her.
David Canfield (Vanity Fair): Danielle Deadwyler is truly *incredible* here, w/ several scenes that took my breath away. She anchors Chukwu's artful, sensitive & nuanced vision. The one performance this season I haven't been able to shake—that raw, and that good.
Anne Thompson (IndieWire): Director Chinonye Chukwu (Clemency) knows how to pull great performances from actors. With NYFF premiere Till (10/14 UAR) Danielle Deadwyler (Station Eleven) delivers as the grieving mother of lynched 14-year-old Emmett Till. But Chukwu milks the drama with heavy-handed closeups.
Will Mavity (Next Best Picture): Danielle Deadwyler is such a stunner in Till. She takes that character on such a gigantic emotional journey from timidity, then to devastation, and then righteous, courageous anger. The kind of performance you can’t look away from and keep thinking about for weeks
While James L. Brooks teased last year that "we'll soon be seeing" Jack Nicholson, 89, act again, and that he was "reading scripts," that idea has now been shut down by his close friend Michael Douglas, 82.