Sylvie’s Love - A classic Hollywood romance . 💙 📺

We love Sylvie’s Love. Eugene Ashe, the Writer/Director of the film did a wonderful job of telling this love story set in the fifties. We aren’t here to convince you the movie is PERFECT. Admittedly, it does fall victim to a few standard romantic / noir troupes that can be predictable at times - but we are okay with that and here’s why. Black folks almost never get an opportunity to just.. be themselves on film. Living, working, experiencing love.. or a sense of normalcy especially in THAT era. Most films centered around a Black cast that’s set in the 50’s/60’s are centered around our pain and struggle. While it’s important to acknowledge what we went through, it’s also important to remember that the people who lived in that era had to deal with all of those struggles on top of trying to figure out real world relationships, and their careers. While Sylvie’s Love does touch on racism, it’s so brief that you almost forget it was mentioned. Like we said earlier, our movies set in this era always gets consumed by the movement, racism, and pain. So for a vast majority of the film it FEELS like these Black characters are somewhat in their own little bubble trying to figure things out. And we like that. Ashe does a wonderful job of conveying the fact race and racism is a present and looming thing, but not a focal point. Tessa Thompson plays her role of the confident and ambitious, yet confused young Sylvie very well. Nnamdi Asomugha plays the shy but talented young musician very convincingly as well. The movie is carried by their chemistry- which although at times felt a little awkward, was also authentic. Because who’s always cool around someone they’re in love with? The wardrobe is elite, granted we are bias towards the sleek and dapper 1950’s aesthetic. The ending is the only thing holding this film back from perfection. There just isn’t really a “moment” in the movie. Films like The Notebook, which Sylvie’s Love is being compared to definitely have that “moment”. Other than that, the ending was well executed - but very, very cliche. But.. who cares? That doesn’t ruin the movie for us at all, it just didn’t stand out as much as it could have. And romantic dramas are SUPPOSED to be cliche, right? It gave us classic Hollywood romance vibes, Jazz, and Black love all while boasting strong performances and a good concise story. The movie was shot using actual film, which gave it a grainy feeling thats authentic to the time, combine that with the beautiful set pieces and it’s really easy to become immersed into the era. Ratings are dumb but if we HAD to, we’ll give this romance a 7/10. Now go find a boo with a Prime account and bless yourselves.