Really Love is a 2020 American romantic drama film directed by Angel Kristi Williams and co-written with Felicia Pride. The film is set in Washington, D.C., and centers the romance between a struggling artist (Kofi Siriboe) and an ambitious law student (Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing). Really Love debuted in October 2020 at AFI Film Festival. It received mainly positive critical reception and leads Wong-Loi-Sing and Siriboe received a Special Jury Recognition for Acting at South by Southwest.
"Set in a gentrifying Washington, D.C., a rising Black painter tries to break into a competitive art world, while balancing a whirlwind romance he never expected."[1]
Cast
Kofi Siriboe as Isaiah Maxwell, a struggling artist
Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing as Stevie Richmond, an ambitious law student
Really Love is director Angel Kristi Williams' feature film debut and Felicia Pride's debut screenplay.[2] The two met through a mutual friend, after which Pride showed Williams the Really Love screenplay and invited her to direct the project.[3]
Williams stated that she was inspired by films including In the Mood For Love, Blue Valentine, and Love Jones.[4] The production designer was Nathan Parker and the cinematographer was Shawn Peters.[4][5] It was produced and financed by Homegrown Pictures and Charles D. King's production company MACRO.[4] The artwork done by Isaiah in the film was created by artists Gerald Lovell, Chanel Compton, and Ronald Jackson.[5][3]
On July 8, 2018 it was announced that Kofi Siriboe was cast in a lead role in the film.[6]Uzo Aduba, Naturi Naughton, Tristan Wilds, Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing, and Jade Eshete were announced as cast members on July 26, 2018.[7]Michael Ealy was announced on July 31, 2018.[8] The film is one of the last projects completed by Suzzanne Douglas prior to her death in 2021.[3]
The film was originally set to premiere at South by Southwest in March 2020. However, after the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it debuted at AFI's virtual film festival in October 2020.[4]Really Love began streaming on Netflix on August 25, 2021.[9][10]
Really Love received positive reception. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[12]
In a review for Film Threat, Alex Saveliev compared the film to If Beale Street Could Talk and praised it as a "gentle, poignant examination of two young people at the dawn of self-discovery".[2] In a similarly positive review, Robert Daniels wrote for The Playlist, "“Really Love” is a timeless black romance. Kristi Williams is an assured new voice already nestling herself inside audiences’ hearts."[13]
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