TMS Movie Review: A Thousand and One
(Aaron Ricketts / Focus Features)
During all the discourse this past winter over Andrea Riseborough’s random, speedy campaign that led to her Oscar nomination for Michael Morris’ To Leslie (2022), we got discussions on whether the momentum was truly ‘grassroots’ and if the movie was even a legitimate independent feature. Riseborough and Morris have been working in Hollywood for years, and clearly knew how to sell their picture with experience and connections despite the small budget. So at the end of the day, they’re already a step ahead of anyone in the industry starting from scratch. But could someone like AV Rockwell—the writer and director of this month’s A Thousand and One—and Teyana Taylor—the film’s leading lady—have the same, very quick success to an Oscar nomination on just the picture’s quality and word of mouth from fans/viewers?
Similar to To Leslie, A Thousand and One is about a troubled, struggling woman who has made poor decisions that directly affect her young son. This time, Taylor plays Inez de la Paz, who is 22 and has just spent a year and a half in jail. When she returns home to Brooklyn, she discovers her old job and everyone in her life has moved on and she has nowhere to go. Desperate and unsure of how to pick up her life when freelance hairdressing isn’t enough, she secretly abducts her 6-year-old son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola) from his foster family and heads out to Harlem.
(Aaron Ricketts / Focus Features)
Aven Courtney plays Terry at 13, while Josiah Cross is Terry at 18. Terri Abney appears as Inez’s best friend and William Catlett as her longtime companion, who has also spent time in prison. A Thousand and One is Rockwell’s full-length feature debut after spending the first decade of her career making short films, and is solid enough to guarantee her a future in filmmaking. Like has been mentioned in other reviews, this isn’t a particularly groundbreaking story, but the visual execution makes up for it. The film starts in 1994 and ends in 2005, taking us back to the New York we’ve seen in Spike Lee classics, reminding us of its gritty and harsh history. It’s hard to sympathize with Inez, since her choices are selfish and make it difficult for Terry to succeed on his own when he discovers he’s bright and smart enough for an ivy league scholarship. Taylor, mostly famous for her work as a music artist and dancer, is mesmerizing on screen and could take up a second gig acting if she wanted. The first half of 1,000 and One is particularly strong, where we’re baffled by Inez’s shameless schemes to hide Terry; but then are instantly given an adorable scene where she reads PD Eastman’s Are You My Mother? to him in bed, and wonder for a moment if she does mean well. Taylor plays this young mother honestly and without any superfluousness.
It’s probably too early in the year for such a lowkey, modest indie drama to be remembered during next awards season; but A Thousand and One is presently the first official contender for something like the Indie Spirit Awards or Gotham Awards, especially Taylor’s performance, if you ask me.