THEY CLONED TYRONE
US, 2023, 122 minutes, Colour.
John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Paris, Kiefer Sutherland, David Alan Grier.
Directed by Juel Taylor.
At first, this 2023 film looks like a throwback, rather elaborately cast with British John Boyega (international prominence with the Star Wars sequels) and Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx, to the 1970s and life in the neighbourhood, the popular Blaxploitation movies. There are drug dealers, the prostitutes, the gangster links, the tough personalities, the wisecracking personalities…
While there are some serious themes, audiences have noted the comic tone throughout, wisecracks, humorous situations, ironies. The cast are particularly good at highlighting these, especially Jamie Foxx in a rather outlandish role.
However, this is the 21st-century, plenty of conspiracies around, and political repercussions of racism. There are sinister powers behind-the-scenes, using science-fiction means to subjugate the black population, using a cloning process to reproduce characters and create confusion.
John Boyega is Tyrone and he is cloned number of times, his wondering often which of his Tyrones is his real self. In the background is Kiefer Sutherland as a sinister controller.
A film that is designed to appeal especially to the African-American audience in the US – perhaps a bit demanding and hard to follow for audiences non-American.
