SUNDANCE 2025: RICKY

Church serves as the backbone in the Black culture in good times and in those times that are not so lovely. As a culture, it is believed if you give your life over to God change is imminent on the path to creating a more improved existence guiding you to be born again. This is how we are introduced to Ricky in a circle of women praying for his well being upon return.

The difficulty acclimating back into society after 15 years would be daunting for the any human being.  But, 30-year-old Ricky finds himself navigating challenging realities of post-incarceration life and the complexity of gaining independence for the first time as an adult.

Upon first glance, audiences think they are about to see another film about another Black man fighting to stay out of prison only to return.  That narrative only skims the surface, as director Rashad Frett delivers a warm, beautifully textured feature intimately reaching into the  emotional roads of Ricky, a betrayed teenager living inside of a prison-cut adult body as he attempts to integrate himself back into his Caribbean mother’s God-fearing home in Hartford, Connecticut.

Trying desperately to not let his past define who he desires to become, it is hard not to notice that women are key to Ricky’s survival and demise along the way. Losing his virginity, being verbally and physically assaulted, trying to maneuver smartphones and social media etiquette while trying to figure out how he will parlay his gift as a barber into gainful employment is just the tip of the iceberg. Will he being able to meet his parole officer’s work requirements? Will he continue to be  misunderstood or will he get a chance to live the life he envisions?

Stephan James and Sheryl Lee Ralph are powerful and nuanced performances as Ricky and Joanne, his hard-core, big-hearted, parole officer. Andrene Ward-Hammond as Cheryl, a fellow parolee who has a wicked jealous, vengeful heart literally make you want to slap the taste out of her mouth for being so incredibly insensitive and ratched. Well done sis!

End credits with many real life-prisoners who have served 15-20 year sentences commenting on their own difficult journey is a full circle moment  reminds us all that just because you’ve done bad things doesn’t mean you can’t have a good future.