Rating: PG | Runtime: 93 minutes
Release Date: April 19th, 2024 (USA)
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Director(s): Minhal Baig
Writer(s): Minhal Baig

Don’t be afraid to fly.

There are two kinds of people. Those dissatisfied with their current circumstances who look to the past for happier times and those who look to the future with the intent to create new ones. Countless films have presented this duality, but few have done so through the eyes of children. That’s what Minhal Baig’s We Grown Now delivers with its look at two best friends being raised in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green circa 1992. As they arrive at an age where they can no longer ignore the injustices done to them while the city escalates the reach of its systemic racism, they must choose to either let the nihilism take hold or continue to dream.

This turning point is augmented by the tragic murder of a seven-year-old boy outside the housing project. I couldn’t help but think about the coming-of-age journey in Stand By Me as a contrast point—a group of white boys choosing to pursue the allure of seeing a dead body opposite these two black boys having no choice but to see one that forces them to realize they could be next. Then comes the increased oppression of not being able to go to their homes without identification. The 2AM warrantless “search” of their apartment by police and the physical destruction and emotional violation that results.

You can’t blame Malik (Blake Cameron James) for looking outwards and aspiring to imagine a house and a garden underneath the stars. You can’t blame Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez) for retreating inwards from the futility of it all. Adults whisper in the background as the injustices mount and the fear rises. The boys are apparently being protected as a result, but really the secrecy and uncertainty only makes things worse. The line between escape and carelessness becomes thin as a result. They’re told they can’t play outside for their own safety when all they want to do is jump onto mattresses in the courtyard. And when they can’t stay still any longer, their unannounced journey into the city leaves their parents thinking the worst.

It’s a delicate balance. The joy of childhood and impending despair of adulthood—especially when you would hope the kids in question have a few more years before needing to worry about the transition. But it goes in the other direction too when you consider Malik’s mother (Jurnee Smollett’s Dolores) and Eric’s father (Lil Rel Howery’s Jason) navigating single parenthood with jobs that barely make ends meet. It’s to the point where Dolores is willing to say no to an opportunity to better their lives because of what it might mean uprooting the children. To hear her mother (S. Epatha Merkerson’s Anita) call her out about that fear being hers rather than the kids is the kick in the pants many need to take that chance.

Because people are resilient, and homes are never truly about the place in which they reside. Maybe Anita is from Mississippi, but circumstances made it so that state could no longer be “home.” And maybe Malik is therefore also “from” the south, but really he was born and raised in Chicago. So, why can’t they move again? Why can’t they set-up shop somewhere else if it means giving themselves a chance to succeed? Isn’t that the point? We work and strive for a future that’s better than our past. For our children to have opportunities we didn’t. And if we do it correctly, the act of leaving mustn’t always be another example of life proving meaningless for those who stay. It could be the catalyst necessary to show them that they might one day leave too.

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Blake Cameron James and Gian Knight Ramirez in WE GROWN NOW; courtesy of Participant and Sony Pictures Classics.