In 1992, two Black boys in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing projects struggle with change as the rest of their life falls apart around them. We Grown Now is a heart-wrenching story of growing up told poetically and beautifully. The film portrays an upbringing that is rarely depicted with such honesty through the use of symbolic fantasy elements by acclaimed filmmaker Minhal Baig. Children are more than just products of their physical environment; they are shaped by many factors which expose young minds to adult hardships. While it may be devastating to lose innocence, having a strong foundation will allow one to cope and mature.
Best friends Malik (Blake Cameron James) and Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez), both ten years old, take turns carrying an old mattress from an abandoned apartment down several flights of stairs in their crumbling building. Along the way they talk about Michael Jordan’s greatness. They know better than to take the elevator. When they finally reach their playground destination other kids watch them, envious, while they throw the bed on top of a pile and begin to jump off it into the air and onto the ground with loud thuds.
Malik drags himself home with a few bumps and bruises but his mother knows he has been “jumping” as she calls it because she can see where he is hurt even though he tries to hide it from her most times anyway. Dolores (Jurnee Smollett), who is single and works two jobs as a nursemaid for rich white families downtown during the day then cleans hotel rooms downtown at night until early morning when she comes home exhausted only to sleep for a few hours before getting back up again to do it all over again tomorrow – four days straight every week without fail – shares two bedrooms with her son, daughter (Malik’s younger sister), and mother (S.
Epatha Merkerson). Malik does not want to eat leftovers again tonight and says something that hurts Dolores’ feelings after she has had a long day working very hard. Meanwhile, at Eric’s house, his dad (Lil Rel Howery) who is a widower asks him to count the money for their bills because he wants his son to be smart like him so that he does not have to struggle like he did but can take care of himself and other people too; this makes Eric feel bad about himself because he is still learning how to count higher numbers in school so sometimes gets them mixed up or forgets what comes next until someone tells him again. His sister (Avery Holliday) pleads with their father to stop always picking on Eric and being mean
We Grown Now never wallows in negativity, Baig shows us just how boundless these kids’ imaginations are; they still dream big even when life seems hopeless. You’ll see them lying on their backs staring at the ceiling as if it were outer space, and it’ll make you fly. But while they have all this hope for themselves and everything around them, what’s left for the adults? This woman Dolores needs to find her spark again so she can light the way for her son; she knows that real optimism comes from facing things head-on with courage. She can’t let herself get swallowed up by how heavy everything is right now.
This celestial quality of Baig’s work carries over into her music selection too – and boy does Jay Wadley deliver! His playful violin score dances through every scene like a butterfly landing on flowers. These kids aren’t hard inside yet; they still see beauty where others might spoil it or miss altogether… Malik & Eric got something special growing inside them but outside forces could mess that up fast if they’re not careful. We gotta keep ’em beautiful and point ’em towards the light so they can thrive! Baig doesn’t want any loud aggressive Inner-city movie soundtracks misrepresenting these children’s lives – no thank you!
Now I must admit We Grown Now gets dangerously close to being an after-school special about halfway through (don’t worry we’ll keep going). There’s definitely some melodrama happening here along with a certain preachiness but luckily those things don’t take over completely… Malik & Eric really do talk openly about what’s going on around them though: Will a murdered child automatically get into heaven? Does God really exist? Are we still best friends if we’re far apart? And I mean dang—these questions are deep! They’re bumps on that rocky road to adulthood alright, and having people who love you guide your way makes everything just a little bit easier.
