Residue (2020) User Reviews

Destruction and Memory

[sackofwhine · 7/10 · 17 September 2020]

"Residue" is the most experimental and topical film that I saw in Venice, it features unconventional filmmaking and transports the viewer into an issue that hasn't yet been explored cinematically. Speaking with the director, this was extremely low budget and very spontaneous which is one of my biggest praises. The film has an intoxicating and transcending visual style that helps to build the story up in innovative ways. A bit unfocused and spends time at moments that didn't interest me at all, but one of the Venice films I want to rewatch as soon as possible.

Not easy to follow

[richard-1787 · 6/10 · 8 February 2021]

This movie was very hard for me to follow, mostly because a lot of the dialogue was very difficult for me to hear. There were remarkable moments, such as when the protagonist goes to prison to visit a childhood friend of his and recalls some of the best moments they spent together as children, while imagining - I think - other moments that did not actually take place but that could have. But, for me, too often it was hard to hear what the characters were saying, or to figure out what I was seeing.

Is this a fault of the director? Or of mine? I can't say.

Definitely give this movie a try. You may get more out of it than I did. But I wish the director would rethink some of his decisions on sound and transitions.

Experimental

[MikeyB1793 · 6/10 · 15 November 2020]

At times this worked - and at other times it just seemed too experimental.

It flips back and forth between present and past - present friends and family - and how things use to be. Also there is a a lot of imagination going on - as in what the main character wishes to occur. I thought the prison interview scene towards the end that took place in the forest was effective in showing what could have been.

I didn't find the scenes with his "girlfriend" convincing - she just seemed to come out of nowhere - just added for affect (i.e. eye candy).

If you like the avant garde this may be for you.

There is no resolution to finding his past friend - so this is like life.

Restrained and mature filmmaking of a black filmmaker making his debut

[JuguAbraham · 7/10 · 4 October 2020]

One of the best films on blacks in USA by a black director--his debut. Good visuals. Restrained and very magnetic acting by non-professionals. The film is about the gradual "gentrification" of Q street in Washington DC, not very far from the White House. (I have been a frequent visitor to the J and K street areas of the same city where the black population is in minority.) Q street was considered a black majority area. Land developers try to evict the black population so that the land/properties can be inhabited by white folks. The film rarely shows the whites, but when it shows their actions it is searing for the viewer. The whites take out their pet dogs for a walk and allow their pets to defecate on lawns of homes owned by blacks and do not clean up the mess even when confronted by home owners and instead yell profanities at the blacks from a safe distance. The final words are from a white couple standing on the terrace of a high rise residential complex who now feel safe that the black community is a lot less in number than before. The "Residue" of the title refers to the blacks who refuse to move out of Q street. An important film of 2020.

Best movie of 2020

[guillorykobi · 10/10 · 3 October 2020]

Residue is an amazing portrayal of gentrification and the way police, realtors, etc displace Black people. The movie is sure to hurt some white people's feelings because of how truthful it is.

Darkness

[fmwongmd · 5/10 · 26 September 2020]

I was attracted by the authenticity of the film. The language was the way black people talk. The behavior and culture ditto.Obina Nwachukwu is believable.

Wow, just wow

[joshdantonio · 10/10 · 18 September 2020]

This film is so powerful. The way it's shot, the flash backs, the way the director played with light and perspective. It really is great. I had to sit and reflect after watching. This film sticks with you.

Gerima....Awesome DEBUT!!!

[kenshaymel-90461 · 10/10 · 3 October 2020]

Residue is a beautiful and meaningful film filled with deep character emotion, powerful images, and nostalgic memories. The film's characters are believable.

Although the movie is filmed in Washington, DC, this movie does NOT portray the downtown sections of the city (i.e. The White House, The Monument, The Capitol), but rather the sections of the city that show how black folks live and how they cope with gentrification...and Jay (Obina Nwachukwu) says it best: "these white folks are gonna paint over the city like we never existed!"

From the music (go-go), to the slang (he moved "out Merr-lin"), to the attitude of the characters...Gerima has done a great job in capturing the true black culture of DC. This film is necessary! #DCStillOurs #DontMuteDC

If you don't like it, you're probably a colonizer

[sdavieslowe · 10/10 · 24 September 2020]

This movie very accurately depicts something that's not only relative to DC natives, but black inner city residents almost everywhere. Having displaced friend groups, not due to the "average" coming of age reasons like college or careers but having friends lost due to gun violence, or mass incarceration; I've not seen a movie so vividly convey the emotions survivors of gun violence, or white supremacy as well as this movie did.

Sight and sound

[heidiknum · 10/10 · 18 September 2020]

I feel that through imagery this film shows how trauma effects all of a persons senses.

I accidentally deleted my original review

[thisismynightmare · 10/10 · 22 September 2020]

And that sht was long at. so here's a short version:

most movies suck they have boring perspectives they have a frame of reference that's alien to me

but this film very well paced beautifully shot the characters felt real and the story was way too real I cried a lot the ending exactly the right move and it hit hard

good stuff

Excellent

[dinu938 · 10/10 · 10 October 2020]

Perhaps the best exploration on film of Mind, Consciousness, Memory, and Suffering that I've seen. It's firmly enough tied to contemporary social issues so as not to float away into philosophical abstraction, indeed, firmly enough tied to bring an attentive viewer to tears. But the philosophical - almost Buddhist - implications are there also. Well worth a second thoughtful viewing.

Poignant Recollection Of Faded Friendships

[zac-68274 · 10/10 · 3 October 2020]

Movie touches on a Life none of us can get back and a glimpse of current practices taking place around every major city at a staggering pace. Desensitized colonizers have mimicked past generations since indigenous genocide and land invasions first contaminated America. The Acting & Cinematography is unquestionably Noteworthy!

A powerful and super original film about the powerlessness of Black people in America

[utah_cos · 10/10 · 4 November 2020]

Residue does not have a plot or a narrative line. It speaks to you via disparate images, innovative dialogues and amazing characters. It is as powerful as it is subtle. I am not a Black person, nor American but I felt the pain, the emotion, the questions and the drama unfolding in the mind and in front of the eyes of the main character. The main narrative, about the gentrification process in a Washington DC neighbourhood, gets tangled in so many parallel narratives that actually mimic how the human mind feels and thinks. Yes, Residue is one of those rare movies that ends up being about you, about me, about our fears, emotions and questions. Is it really about gentrification this movie? Is it also about friendship? About time? About opportunities and chances? Is it me the boy who left his neighbourhood when he was young in search of better opportunities? Is it you, who stayed behind to help his parents and be with his grandparents? Is it us, who cannot speak anymore to each other and cannot find a place anymore in a soulless world?

Change and Lament.

[James_TheMan · 9/10 · 1 May 2022]

A highly poetic treatise on how one can feel if they succumb to letting fine memories of their glorious past hinder their present. The shooting style of this film is hyper-realistic.

The time span is epic, covering the characters childhood in detail all the way through to the present. The editing style flips between points of time in such a beautiful way - I've not seen memories and scenes blended with such perfection in any other film. Flashbacks usually bother me in films, but here they didn't. It reminds me of Nicholas Roeg's style.

An efficacious look across time into the innermost world of a man and the universe surrounding him. Outstanding storytelling.