SXSW Film Review: Mo McRae’s ‘A Lot Of Nothing’
deadline.comRacial divides, mistrust and misunderstandings get a rambunctious, if understandably inconclusive workout in A Lot of Nothing, a dynamic and agitating feature debut by Mo McRae that had its world premiere at South by Southwest in the Narrative Feature Competition section.
Layers of suspicions, animosity and aggressive feelings ebb and flow as an upscale Los Angeles black couple plays host to another couple and, unexpectedly, to a lower-class white cop who’s paying a price for what he did the night before.
After a powerful first act, this turbulent work is obliged to downshift somewhat as it seeks some kind of conclusion that won’t be too pat or simplistic given the complex dynamics at hand.
While it doesn’t end on a satisfying note, this is nonetheless an excitingly combustible piece that announces a vibrant talent unafraid to confront thorny issues head-on.Co-written by McRae, who has acted in a lot of TV including ongoing roles in the likes of Sons of Anarchy, Murder in the First, Almost Family and The Flight Attendant, and Sarah Kelly Kaplan, the film enjoys subverting expectations and putting the characters, and as a consequence the audience, on uncertain ground as often as it can.
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