Review: Premature
Young adulthood involves many turns that can become life-changing. When coupled with love and relationships, it can also become daunting. For Ayana (Zora Howard), a 17 year old Harlemite on the cusp of college, one summer changed her life and outlook – and it all started with one boy. Rashaad Ernesto Green’s Premature details what happens when a teenager is confronted with big decision-making, putting her in crossroads with the relationships in her life.
Premiering at Sundance, the film is set during a hazy and lively summer in Harlem before Ayana is set to head off to college. Hanging around with her girlfriends, she meets Isaiah (Joshua Boone), an older transplant from Raleigh who is following his dream to become a music producer. After their first date, they quickly start spend a lot of their free time together. Eventually, Ayana discovers that she’s pregnant and struggles with deciding her next steps. As a result, her relationships begin to fall apart, with both Isaiah and her friends and family.
As the lead and writer behind these characters, Howard is a fitting lead. The ability to act out your words isn’t as easy as it seems. Luckily, Howard brings a level of confidence, vulnerability and NY charm to the role. Speaking of NY charm, this film doesn’t work without the rawness of the environment they’re in. This Harlem is true to its history and its color – and the actresses who play Ayana’s friends (Tashiana Washington, Imani Lewis) elevates it a step further. They are a type of NY Black girl this NY Black girl recognizes, which bodes well for its authenticity.
The love story of Ayana and Isaiah are central to this story and both actors have chemistry to pull it off. The way in which they bond over their creative passions is reminiscent of Love Jones, and almost feels like a homage in some beats. Unfortunately, you cannot ignore the age difference of the characters: Ayana is 17 and while they never explicitly say Isaiah’s age, there is a scene where he gets carded at a bar. You could go into semantics of what his age truly is (he could have a fake ID, for example), but it’s hard to ignore that Isaiah has a more mature edge to him. Young adult love stories are as old as the dawn of film, but it doesn’t remove the critical lens we need to place on these older/younger relationship – especially in the era where we speak about consent and power imbalance so freely.
Premature, if nothing else, successfully treads similar waters as Love Jones and Mo Better Blues before it while keeping the story relevant to its own time. There’s space to call into question whether the relationship between Ayana and Isaiah was appropriate even while recognizing that the love story is what is the heart of the film. At its core, there’s a story that examines relationships we have and who is truly there for us in tough times. Those people who stick it out with you and for you even when you’re uncertain. And despite the questionable relationship, we see Ayana grow from her circumstances and work to move on. Young love can mean the world at the moment, but those original relationships can last a lifetime.
