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Sundance 2025 Review: Ricky

Recently released from prison, Ricky attempts to integrate back into society but the circumstances around him threaten to send him back behind bars.

Nothing seems to go right for Ricky even with his mother and her friends doing a ceremony to protect him from bad influences; he loses his manual labour job which puts him at odds with his hardline parole officer and those around him are engaging in criminal activities. There is a genuine feeling of frustration as the obstacles mount and the ex-con is left wondering if he can actually begin his life afresh.

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As a leading man, Stephan James has an empathetic presence needed for the role and Titus Welliver is always reliable though greatly underused. The real problem is that the story is conventional in nature so the mounting obstacles have a plot necessity aura about them instead of organically coming out of the circumstances. However, this does call into question how much members of racial communities are prepared to support each other as there appears to be an antagonistic climate that undermines any chance of advancement and reformation taking place.

The cinematography is disjointed in places that leave the impression of being outtakes which is part of the danger of utilizing a handheld documentary approach. The grainy imagery provides an appropriate grittiness to the proceedings while the muted tones and reliance on natural lighting avoid a slickness that reminds the viewer this is a movie not a life in progress. The real issue is that the story is a well-travelled road which does not offer a new path to explore.

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival takes place January 23 to February 2, 2025, in person and online, and for more information visit sundance.org.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.

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