Josh:
I didn’t know much about Gray’s autobiographical drama going in, and seeing where and when it was set, with early references to The Clash, Kurtis Blow (who I saw open for The Clash once), Sugar Hill Gang, et al, I knew it was going to be an emotional nostalgic journey for me, and I was right, but I was surprised by the nuance Gray brings to what feels like a deeply personal and confessional story about systemic racism, white privilege, freaking Fred Trump, and our collective failure to “be a mensch.” ⏰⏰⏰⏰
Steph:
The film shows just how much influence parents and adults can have over children, including spouting and accepting racist rhetoric, and I loved how Armageddon Time navigated that, with the grandfather there as an occasional antidote to the worldview of the other adults around him, but—though all the adult characters appear to acknowledge their privilege at times—their response is to take advantage of it rather than challenge it in any significant way, so it’s great when 6th grader Paul finally accepts that everyone around him is completely full of shit—which is what made the film ultimately feel like a critique of all the upper class private school American Dream nonsense that preceded it. ⏰⏰⏰⏰
The Bare Minimum 