If Beale Street Could Talk (2019)
84%RT Audience Score: 71%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
107 wins & 191 nominations total
If Beale Street Could Talk honors its source material with a beautifully filmed adaptation that finds director Barry Jenkins further strengthening his visual and narrative craft
If Beale Street Could Talk is like a warm hug from your grandma, if your grandma was James Baldwin and she was telling you a story about young love and injustice. Barry Jenkins’ adaptation is a visual feast that will make you swoon and cry, and the performances from KiKi Layne and Regina King are nothing short of amazing. It’s a movie that will stay with you long after the credits roll, and make you want to call your grandma and tell her you love her.
Production Company(ies)
Spinal Tap Prod. Goldcrest Films, International,
Distributor
Annapurna Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language and some sexual content
Year of Release
2018
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.00 : 1
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Runtime:1h 59m
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Language(s):English, Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 11, 2019 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 12, 2019
Genre(s)
Romance
Keyword(s)
starring KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, directed by Barry Jenkins, written by Barry Jenkins, produced by Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, genre: Romance, MPAA rating: R, box office performance: $14.9M, budget: unknown, reviewed by Valerie Complex, Claudia Puig, Hannah Giorgis, Wenlei Ma, A.T Mcwilliams, Matthew Norman, KiKi Layne as Tish Rivers, Stephan James as Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt, Regina King as Sharon Rivers, Colman Domingo as Joseph Rivers, Teyonah Parris as Ernestine Rivers, Michael Beach as Frank Hunt, James Baldwin, Annapurna Pictures
Worldwide gross: $20,596,567
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $24,237,500
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,636
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,643,130
US/Canada gross: $14,915,773
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $17,552,490
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,452
US/Canada opening weekend: $224,476
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $264,157
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,575
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $12,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $14,121,285
Production budget ranking: 1,537
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $7,604,312
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,511,902
ROI to date (est.): 12%
ROI ranking: 1,339
Stephan James – Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt
Regina King – Sharon Rivers
Colman Domingo – Joseph Rivers
Teyonah Parris – Ernestine Rivers
Michael Beach – Frank Hunt
Barry Jenkins – Director/Writer
Adele Romanski – Producer
Sara Murphy – Producer
Dede Gardner – Producer
Jeremy Kleiner – Producer
Director(s)
Barry Jenkins
Writer(s)
Barry Jenkins
Producer(s)
Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy, Barry Jenkins, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
Film Festivals
Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
107 wins & 191 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (363) | Top Critics (84) | Fresh (344) | Rotten (19)
If Beale Street Could Talk will take you on a journey of visual ecstasy with narrative beats that create a solid adaptation of James Baldwin’s emotional material. (pub date: Sept 2018)
January 29, 2021 | Rating: B+
Valerie Complex
The Nerds of Color
TOP CRITIC
Lyrical and very transporting.
September 12, 2019
Claudia Puig
FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
TOP CRITIC
Jenkins’s If Beale Street Could Talk is a gorgeous, enveloping film — and one of its most poignant triumphs is how vividly it captures the depth and complication of intimacy among its black characters.
September 10, 2019
Hannah Giorgis
The Atlantic
TOP CRITIC
It’s a stunning and sensuous film, gorgeously crafted and performed – the story of young lovers in an unjust world. It’ll make your heart flutter and ache.
March 7, 2019 | Rating: 4.5/5
Wenlei Ma
News.com.au
TOP CRITIC
Just as the novel version of If Beale Street Could Talk moves between love story and protest novel, a balance Baldwin strikes throughout many of his works, Jenkins’ adaptation uses flashbacks to oscillate between two worlds.
February 21, 2019
A.T. Mcwilliams
Thrillist
TOP CRITIC
Jenkins doesn’t scratch the surface of the black American experience. He takes you deep into its bones and suggests that far less has changed than the naive may believe.
February 10, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Matthew Norman
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Although it sways toward social realism, Jenkins transforms the material into an expression of cinematic poetry.
March 4, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Episode 25: Favorite Films of 2018: Part 2
September 9, 2021 | Rating: 92/100
Taylor Baker
Drink in the Movies
I must commend Barry Jenkins.
July 30, 2021 | Rating: 9/10
Carolyn Hinds
But Why Tho? A Geek Community
Many sequences from If Beale Street Could Talk linger long after viewing, standing apart with heartfelt love and caring.
July 22, 2021
Robin Holabird
KUNR (Reno, NV)
If Beale Street Could Talk is exquisite film-making of the highest order and, as far as this writer is concerned, the very best movie of the year.
June 25, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Yasmin Omar
Harper’s Bazaar
KiKi Layne stars as a young woman seeking to prove her wrongly accused partner’s innocence before the birth of their child. Regina King is on Oscar-winning form as her mother.
May 11, 2021
Nick Levine
NME…
Plot
African-American teen sweethearts Fonny and Tish are ripped apart when Fonny is wrongly arrested for the rape of a Puerto Rican woman because of the machinations of a racist cop. While seeking justice for Fonny, a pregnant Tish relies on her Harlem community, including her sister, mother Sharon and future mother-in-law.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing to add here about If Beale Street Could Talk.
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