Avis des critiques

The deserving winner of the grand jury prize at Sundance this year, the directorial debut from AV Rockwell is rather special.

A Thousand and One may not be the only movie about gentrification, but it personifies it so closely—giving it a face and a name in Jerry, and watching it wreak havoc in very specific ways on individual people the audience has come to care for.

Grounded by an astounding performance from Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One deftly crafts a family melodrama that highlights the necessity of defying systems that fail the people they supposedly serve.

“A Thousand and One” is a singular achievement that honors motherhood — warts and all.

“A Thousand and One” is a fascinating portrait of the maternal, feminine instinct caught in an unforgiving world.

Balancing complex familial bonds with sharp social commentary, A.V. Rockwell’s debut film is a knockout.

In “A Thousand and One,” she packs a great deal into her filmmaking, which bristles with looks, gestures, bodies in breakneck motion and expressionistic jolts of color that — like Gary Gunn’s gorgeous score — complicate and deepen the outwardly simple story.

Rockwell’s vigorous detailing of personal life—with its evocation of inner lives—is at the heart of its political vision and of its dramatic strength. It’s why the epic mode of the movie’s melodrama averts the genre’s habitually jarring contrasts between the characters’ everyday circumstances and the loftiness of their struggles.

This is a tough, beautiful, honest and bracingly hopeful movie about mutual care and unconditional love, with a transformative and indelible performance at its core.

Through its powerful exploration of what defines familial ties and the tenacity of marginalised communities in one of America's toughest cities, A Thousand and One resonates deeply.

A Thousand and One suggests that the accounts of struggle, sacrifice and systematic obstacles are legion. Yet you don’t have to view them cumulatively to realize that every single one of these lives matter and every single one of these stories count.

Through both the strength of this central performance, and the film’s dynamic depiction of a vibrant community, A Thousand and One brims with authenticity and the electrifying emotional intensity of the best melodramas.