A Thousand and One opens in the vibrant streets and bustling atmosphere of early ’90s Harlem. In her feature directorial debut, A.V. Rockwell captures the city at its most alive, evolving over a span of 10 years along with the film’s characters. We are first introduced to Inez (Teyana Taylor), a determined young woman dead set on making up for lost time after recently being released from Rikers Island. The camera captures Inez in a series of low-angle shots as she strides across the neighborhood, giving her an almost magnetic quality.
On the street, Inez finds Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola), the six-year-old boy she left behind while serving her prison sentence. He is now stuck living in foster care, but that doesn’t deter her from trying to give him the family she never had. When she tells Terry that she’ll take care of him, he doesn’t buy it, most likely having heard this promise before. It sets up the perfect narrative for Inez to go through a clichéd character arc where she learns what it means to be a parent.
But Rockwell doesn’t care for simple stories and easy endings. She’s more interested in exploring how marginalized families get by in an unforgiving city intent on erasing them. After Terry injures himself in an attempt to run away from his foster family, Inez convinces him to leave with her, despite not having a job or a place to stay. Unsurprisingly, no one comes looking for Terry, allowing Inez to get enough money to buy false papers for him – he now goes by Darrell – and rent a small apartment. We then see the two of them, along with Inez’s on-and-off boyfriend Lucky (William Catlett), form a family unit.
Inez and Terry grow together as Lucky pops in and out of their lives. Inez wants Lucky to be a father to Terry, but he struggles to emotionally connect to the child and live up to the role of patriarch. While Terry ages from 13 (Aven Courtney) to 17 (Josiah Cross), A Thousand and One maintains its focus on Inez. This allows Taylor the time to inhabit her character, portraying a woman who seeks redemption and stability but is stuck struggling to survive. It’s what makes Inez’s ferocity necessary as she does everything possible to keep her family together.
The film takes a turn in the third act when Terry’s identity comes into question. It unfortunately falters when the late reveal completely changes our perception of the characters but doesn’t allow enough time for us to process. The film ends shortly after this, making the final scenes feel slightly forced and artificial.
However, the film’s greatest impact comes when Rockwell contextualizes the familial story within an ever-changing city. Throughout the film, she inserts audio clips of news reports regarding former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s crackdown on “quality of life” crimes and stop-and-frisk policies that targeted Black and Brown men. Harlem also undergoes gentrification that displaced locals for white residents to move in. This manifests in the family’s new white landlord, Jerry (Mark Gessner), who initially seems helpful but forces Inez and Terry out after leaving their apartment without a working bathroom. Rockwell draws a connection between Inez and the transforming landscape of Harlem where both defiantly fight against a system designed to render them invisible.
Photo courtesy of Focus Features
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