I’m not entirely sure if Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till” will be a certified Best Picture nominee, but it is a good movie with a great lead performance.
In the end, the film’s strengths revolve around Daniel Deadwyler’s performance more than anything else. The screenplay written by Chukwu and Keith Beauchamp is meant as a character study, and that’s the way the film manages to avoid some of the usual biopic cliches — it doesn’t really have as much drama as you might think.
Critics have responded well to “Till,” but so have audiences. The film expanded to over 2000 screens this past Friday and garnered an A+ CinemaScore in the process. However, it’s set to only make around $3 million over the three-day weekend.
This is not a movie that will be driven to Oscar glory via strong domestic numbers. Forget about it. The sad fact is that there aren’t many mainstream moviegoers interested in paying to watch “Till.”