Mother of George R
Andrew Dosunmu’s second feature film, Mother of George, follows the struggle of a newly married Nigerian couple, Ayodele and Adenike Balogun, to conceive a child. Living in an insular Yoruba community in Brooklyn, Ayodele (Isaach De Bankolé) runs a restaurant with his brother Biyi (Anthony Okungbowa) that is overseen by matriarch Ma Ayo (Bukky Ajayi). After multiple failed attempts by the couple, Ma Ayo issues an ultimatum to Adenike (Danai Gurira, The Walking Dead) to conceive and thereby save her marriage. Vibrant colors and lighting, languid pacing and Bradford Young’s cinematography give artistic strength and depth to the story, yet occasionally disrupt the narrative. Playwright Darci Picoult’s script, Dosunmu’s direction and solid acting ultimately provide the film with enough weight to hold its own and succeed in telling a universal story from a culturally specific angle. (Jay Peschman)
7 p.m., Dec. 6 and Dec. 8; 9 p.m., Dec. 7 at UW-Milwaukee’s Union Theatre.
