Madison (Miguela Gary) has always loved her dad (Henry E. Reaves III) unconditionally, and he always encouraged her to be her own woman - but then he dies in a brutal attack, and she didn't get along with her abusife stepdad, for obvious reasons. Fast forward to now: Madison (as an adult played by April Hale), by now a school teacher, has a difficult relationship with men, and even keeps her best friend Greg (Xamon Glasper) at a distance, even though he seems to have only the best intentions - intentions like getting a lucrative book deal for her, chronicling her own life story, with Greg as her ghost writer. So she tells her story, revolving around her college days when she tried out dating and eventually found a really nice guy, Ben (Dash Kennedy Williams), who really seems to read her as a book. She couldn't be happier - until she experiences his bouts of jealousy that have an almost violent streak. And then two of Madison's exes (Darious Robertson, Christopher Franceschi) are found murdered, as well as her roommate Shauna (Jade Benson) and Shauna's boyfriend (Brandon McMillion). Ben disappeared soon after this, and the actual murderer was never found - which means there's a serial killer on the loose even today ...

A pretty cool mix of thriller and social drama, and one that marries the two elements well, as it really uses the story of a black woman in America finding her own way as a perfect groundwork for its murder mystery while at the same time also making its murder mystery part of the film's social commentary. And a subtle directorial effort giving its solid ensemble cast the necessary space to breathe, giving life to their relatable characters, help to make this a very enjoyable and fittingly thoughtful movie.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned)

The links below will take you just there!!!

Find Queen Rising at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find Queen Rising here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai

Thanks for watching !!!