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The Toronto International Film Festival kicked off Thursday night and with it came the arrival of first great Oscars player with inspection. Released in November by A24, the film is a powerful true story of homophobia experienced at home and in the military. And as the roars of the crowd indicate when she took her encore, Gabrielle Union just landed at the center of the Best Supporting Actress conversation.
The film follows Ellis (played by Tony nominee Jeremy Pope), a young gay black man who joins the US Marines as his only alternative to homelessness. Once there, he faces homophobic torment from fellow recruits and superiors, the worst of which comes from his training officer played by Bokeem Woodbine. Ellis’ journey to reconciliation and affirmation of identity is an emotional rollercoaster. Union stars as Inez, Ellis’ stoic and verbally murderous mother, who initially kicked him out of the house because he was gay.
The story is autobiographical for maverick director Elegance Bratton (who also examined homeless gay youth in his first documentary Children of the pier, which you can and should watch now on Criterion Channel). Her own story with her mother provides the film’s emotional backbone.
A staple of teen comedies and television when she started in the industry, Union has built a long career in mainstream fare alongside the biggest names in the industry. In recent years she has been one of the the most candid actresses discussing the racism and misogyny she’s faced within the industry, which makes for an unqualified hit like her performance in inspection (of which she is also executive producer) all the more triumphant. It’s the kind of long, steady career the Academy loves to reward once an actor finally has his moment, and we should all hope they see this as Union’s.
She’s never had a role quite like what she can do in inspection. Here, Union is finally presented with an opportunity that allows her to not only show off that level of dramatic chops, but also engage with the current moment. By tackling the thorny subject of a mother running away from her gay son at a time when young gay men are particularly targeted, Union aimed to “help other parents not see their children as disposable”, as she put it. told the audience during the film’s post-movie Q&A. “That was my goal.”
In just a few scenes, she achieves this with a humanity and complexity that is immediately disarming to watch. Faced with Pope’s emotionally raw performance, Union is at first terribly inscrutable. But when Inez tells Ellis “I’ve made peace with your loss,” Union’s delivery is anything but as simple as it sounds. (Although, to be fair, we’ve known since Bring it on that she could intimidate us to the depths of a single line of reading.)
Once out of Ellis’ sight, Union allows her to be anxious and conflicted, if she still won’t budge from her beliefs. In their final showdown, Union harrowingly holds us in tension between hope and defeat by her rigid beliefs. It’s a range of emotions that Union conveys with the slightest gesture, all without asking for sympathy from the audience. He gets to the truth of stories like Ellis’s, like Bratton’s, and like many people who will find their stories mirrored in his.
“This performance is the convergence of a performer who didn’t have that kind of opportunity, but who always had it in him.”
Union is at the heart of why this film could resonate with audiences: At a time when our closest relationships are facing breaking deals when it comes to queer identities and politics, Ellis and Inez embody the search for reconciliation. As Bratton introduced the movie to the crowd and talked about his real mother, he said he “made this movie to reach people like her.” This wouldn’t be possible without Union’s commitment to portraying the harsh realities of Inez without taking a beating. This is the best work of his career.
Which means the actress could become a mainstay in the awards season to come, perhaps like this year’s case of a hardworking artist who finally gets her due. And she’d already be primed for such attention just by the nature of the role: If Union found herself nominated for an Oscar next year, she’d slip comfortably into the Academy’s love of tough mother roles. Of Shirley McLaine in Terms of endearment at Mo’Nique in Precious at Allison Janney in Me Tonyaawards have been with this kind of mom for a long time.
But don’t expect such histrionic livewire from this performance. A better comparison (judging by Oscar’s column) for what she delivers may not be motherhood at all, but the cold, unrelenting determination of Louise Fletcher’s Nurse Ratched in Flight over a cuckoo’s nest– she is magnetic, fascinating and always offers a weak image of the human being under her cold control. Union’s work here is one of painful subtlety, which neither finds easy excuses for her cruelty nor turns her into a pure monster.
Although the season has only just begun and other contenders for supporting actresses are yet to be seen, what remains exciting is that this performance is the convergence of a performer who has not had that kind of experience. opportunity, but who always had it with them. And what is certain is that, with the surrounding heat inspection (including performances by Pope and Raúl Castillo), Union’s performance will continue to impress and move people as it reaches a wider audience.