Historically, when the name 'Till' is cited, it generally refers only to Emmett, the 14 year old boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. Chinonye Chukwu's TILL seeks to have audiences also respect the memory of Emmett's proud mother, Mame Till-Mobley.
In many ways, TILL is a fairly straightforward Bio-pic. Chukwu's script (with a pair of co-writers) carefully traces the days leading up to Emmett's (Jalyn Hall) fateful trip from his native Chicago down to Mississippi to visit his cousins. Mame (Danielle Deadwyler) knows the dangers and does her best to warn the teen. As history shows, a tragedy worse than his mother could have possibly imagined occurs when a white woman, Carolyn (Haley Bennett), accuses young Emmett of impropriety. After Emmett''s murder, Mame bravely travels to Mississippi to confront her son's accusers and testify on his behalf.
The film is quite accurate to the events, even if some of the screenplay falls into familiar Bio-pic traps - a certain overly prettified period look, an overblown score and preachy dialogue that speaks from the present day rather than to what was happening then and there. What keeps the movie on track are the performances. Hall is bright and ebullient, Mame's family are strong (including Whoopi Goldberg, who also co-produced the movie) and the other supporting players are equally adept. Still, it's Deadwyler, who is exceptional here. Much of the role requires a certain internal fortitude rather than big showy emotional moments, but Deadwyler is forceful even in the quietest scenes.
The dramatic climax happens even before the trial - Emmett's body is brought back to Chicago for Mame to identify. There is shock and horror, of course, but, Deadwyler also conveys the deep love she had for her son. A mother's love that even death cannot shake. Mame's resolve for the whole world to see the horrors of what happened to her child reverberates to this day. TILL may be a bit conventional, but, Deadwyler's performance and the history that Chukwu highlights give it power.
