Netflix Originals have featured many acclaimed and harrowing films and shows about the struggles faced in contemporary black America, from When They See Us to 13th and more. Now, Black Panther co-writer Joe Robert Cole has helmed a fictionalized story, about the battle for one human soul. All Day and a Night comes to Netflix on the first of May, and its first trailer is available now.
In gang-war-torn Oakland, California, Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) is a young kid just trying to get by while keeping his dreams of rapping afloat. He lives with his single mother (Kelly Jenrette, Uncorked), has a newly pregnant girlfriend (Shakira Ja’Nai Paye, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), and does his best to stay out of trouble. But when a desperately criminal act goes horribly awry, he finds himself in prison with the one man he never wanted to see: His father, Jeffrey Wright (Westworld), a hardened criminal who seems like the worst destiny for Sanders. Will their stay together show Sanders what it really means to be a man, giving him the opportunity to change his course? Or is fate too hard a knot to get yourself out of?
The trailer reminds me of many classic '90s dramas like Juice, Boyz n the Hood, or Menace II Society. It offers a typically sensitive lead performance from Sanders, astonishing in Moonlight, and an against type performance of hard, immoral bravado from Wright -- though the promise of real humanity at his soul is there, too. While many of the beats may seem familiar to viewers familiar with this type of film (as many of the YouTube comments cannily point out), it will likely still offer authenticity, emotional fireworks, and hopefully hope.
All Day and a Night comes to Netflix on May 1. Check out the trailer and official synopsis below. For more dramatic offerings available, here's our favorite dramas streaming on Netflix.
As soft-spoken Jahkor (Ashton Sanders, Moonlight) struggles to keep his dream of rapping alive amidst a gang war in Oakland, his ill-fated life and real-world responsibilities drive him further and further across the line of right and wrong with tragic consequences. Landing in prison beside his father, J.D. (Jeffrey Wright, Westworld) whom he never wanted to be like, Jahkor embarks on an unlikely journey of self-discovery, exploring the events that unite them, in hopes of helping his newborn son break a cycle that feels unavoidable. A powerful film from Black Panther co-writer Joe Robert Cole, ALL DAY AND A NIGHT is produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson (The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story), and Jared Ian Goldman (Ingrid Goes West). The drama co-stars Isaiah John (Snowfall), Kelly Jenrette (The Handmaid’s Tale), Shakira Ja’Nai Paye (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Regina Taylor (The Unit), Christopher Meyer (The Affair) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen).