Set against the backdrop of a changing Harlem landscape, when seventeen-year-old Ayanna meets handsome and mysterious outsider Isaiah, her entire world is turned upside down on her path towards self-discovery as she travails the rigorous terrain of young love the summer before she leaves for college.
Painting an almost 1990s-like portrait, with its grainy filter and brightly colored aesthetic, “Premature” explores the emergence of a young, black woman named Ayanna into adulthood as she learns to navigate the tension between choosing love or career. Zora Howard is cast as Ayanna, who is still 17 years old in the city of New York and just on the cusps for the age of consent in the state. She meets Isaiah, played by Joshua Boone, who is starting out his career as a music producer.
The connection between the two sparks and then grows into an immediate and raging passion, showing an expression of both love and lust that can only be expressed as something special over the course of a lifetime. Perhaps it was the schematics of the film or the chemistry between the two actors, but the movie ignites a sense of nostalgia and melancholy emotion as we witness some of the most intimate demonstrations of love.
The brilliance of the film, however, is not due to its renditions of romantic love, but to its raw and vulnerable depiction of a black woman discovering that love can lead to life-altering dilemmas while balancing chaos amongst girlfriends and struggling in a single-mother household.
Zora Howard is sensual and alluring on-screen, showing a delicate transformation from a girl into a woman. She enters the screen with hopeful and naive optimism and later embraces a persona of mature endurance against the disappointments brought on by loved ones.
Although people can become undependable and inconsistent, Ayanna uses poetry as a steadfast means of processing and reinterpreting the changes happening around her. Her character demonstrates a healthy way of coping with her pain and feelings of loss, inspiring hope to those struggling against the hardships of life. Despite being forced to make difficult decisions, she does not let go of the pen and paper that carry her aspirations and her path of learning.
Like the character of Ayanna, Howard herself has a history with spoken word poetry that shines through her narrative moments in the film. Her voice speaks a melody of strength that carries the film into the direction of female empowerment rather than a film simply about first love.
“Premature” is mesmerizing, demanding your investment into Ayanna’s journey with its highs and lows – I couldn’t help but think of Michelle Obama’s famous saying, “When they go low, we go high.” When Ayanna was being brought down by her circumstances, instead of collapsing under pressure, she flew higher than any bird with her poetic expressions. This film will leave you wanting more, not only because of the story but also for the intense power that is inspired inside of you.
In Select Theaters Friday, February 21st
