Residue does not have a plot or a narrative line. It speaks to you via disparate images, innovative dialogues and amazing characters. It is as powerful as it is subtle. I am not a Black person, nor American but I felt the pain, the emotion, the questions and the drama unfolding in the mind and in front of the eyes of the main character. The main narrative, about the gentrification process in a Washington DC neighbourhood, gets tangled in so many parallel narratives that actually mimic how the human mind feels and thinks. Yes, Residue is one of those rare movies that ends up being about you, about me, about our fears, emotions and questions.
Is it really about gentrification this movie? Is it also about friendship? About time? About opportunities and chances? Is it me the boy who left his neighbourhood when he was young in search of better opportunities? Is it you, who stayed behind to help his parents and be with his grandparents? Is it us, who cannot speak anymore to each other and cannot find a place anymore in a soulless world?
Residue
(2020)
A powerful and super original film about the powerlessness of Black people in America
4 November 2020