The beauty of Exhibiting Forgiveness lies in Titus Kaphar’s ability to examine the aspects of forgiveness that are often glossed over in other similar films.
Writer and Director: Titus Kaphar
Run Time: 117′
US Release: October 18, 2024 in theaters
There are few topics that can be as divisive as that of forgiveness. In his debut feature film, Exhibiting Forgiveness, writer and director Titus Kaphar tackles that topic with a deft hand.
Tarrell (André Holland, Moonlight) is an artist at the top of his game. He and his musician wife, Aisha (Andra Day, The Deliverance), are raising their young son together. He is trying to get his mother, Joyce (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, The Color Purple), to move closer to him and his family, but when he goes home to help her pack, he discovers that his estranged father La’Ron (John Earl Jelks, New Amsterdam) has returned home, causing Tarrell to relive the trauma that he had buried for years.
This movie wrestles with forgiveness in a genuinely unique way by tracking it from multiple angles. La’Ron was an abuser and an addict who found healing in religion. Through flashback sequences, we can see how his actions prior to his recovery caused pain for those around him, particularly his wife and young son (played beautifully by Ian Foreman of I Saw the TV Glow). La’Ron prides himself on his work ethic, which is really just a way for him to access more drugs, and he pushes Tarrell in the same manner.
Tarrell’s trauma isn’t only related to his negative interactions with his father but also a result of seeing his dad abuse his mom. He works through some of that through his art, but as he spends time with his parents, it is clear that there is a lot that he has not yet processed.
The performances from the four leads in Exhibiting Forgiveness are all exquisite. Jelks brings an explosive energy to his character, frenetic energy characterizing every interaction, even when La’Ron is clean. Ellis-Taylor adds so much warmth to her character, juggling her own past with her husband and recognizing that holding on to the pain allows it to continue to harm her. She also addresses the religious aspect that is tied to forgiveness, providing an exemplary view of what it often looks like for people with religious upbringings to approach the issue.
Day not only provides a portion of the actual soundtrack to the film, she also provides the most solid base. Her performance is steady; she never pushes Tarrell to forgive but always encourages him to confront his past in a healthier manner. She is also his biggest defender, recognizing that healing can only happen when someone is open to it.
But the star is most assuredly Holland, who bears the bulk of the emotional heft of the film. He beautifully embodies someone who experienced years of trauma and then left it buried when he was able to leave. We see him try to come to a place of understanding with both of his parents but breaking under the pressure of an inability to come to grips with his past.
Despite Exhibiting Forgiveness being Kaphar’s first foray into film, the artist’s eye that he brings to the movie allows this to be a visual feast. He provided the paintings that add an emotional core to the movie and explain so much of Tarrell’s story without relying on exposition. There are aspects of the script that border on the melodramatic, but there is a complexity to the resolution that keeps this from being hollow or trite.
There was a moment somewhere in the middle of the film when I considered abandoning it. It felt like the story was headed in a direction that would cheapen both the experience of abuse and the decision to forgive. But Exhibiting Forgiveness is a film that deserves your attention all the way to the end. It refuses to offer easy answers but, like the gold leaf and tar portrait of La’Ron, explores the beauty and pain of what it is to offer forgiveness.
Exhibiting Forgiveness will be released in US theaters on October 18, 2024.
