This summer, writer Juel Taylor, known for penning films like Creed II and Space Jam: A New Legacy, makes his feature directorial debut on Netflix with They Cloned Tyrone, co-written with frequent collaborator Tony Rettenmaier (Shooting Stars). The satirical sci-fi mystery horror-comedy follows a hustler, a pro, and a pimp as they embark on a strange, dangerous, and humorous journey beneath the surface to uncover a conspiracy.
The Glen is an otherworldly yet incredibly familiar neighborhood ostensibly located in the South, though it’s never established where exactly it exists. Some residents dress head-to-toe in ’70s-era duds, while others rock a more modern wardrobe. In this world, people whip out Motorola Razr flip phones and watch the news on old-school televisions. But it’s also a place that has SpongeBob SquarePants and Bitcoin. Though it’s a bizarre Napoleon Dynamite place out of time to us, it’s the norm for our characters. Until it isn’t.
Fontaine (John Boyega), a local drug dealer, seems to keep to himself, only interacting with select people. His face either expresses anger, annoyance, or indifference. He’s one of the modern dressers with his gold grill, usually wearing a hoodie and sweats. The aloof hustler is the first to suspect there’s something weird going on and enlists the help of two other Glen inhabitants.
Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx) is a proud pimp, or more like a shadow of a once-successful pimp. Nevertheless, he still rocks suits and furs and an asymmetrical high-top. He’s flamboyant in his actions, wardrobe, and language (pop culture references are a staple in his vernacular). Slick isn’t one to go on a dangerous mission to find the truth, but he witnesses something too unbelievable to deny.
Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris) is a sex worker with a fashionable Foxy Brown flair — faux leather, animal print, and thigh-high boots. She’s not ashamed of her line of work but has bigger plans; they just haven’t panned out yet. Parris told BGN the characters begin as “archetypes that fall into stereotypes,” before we see them as “fully fledged humans, their desires, their struggles.” One of Yo-Yo’s desires is to solve a mystery. The Glen conspiracy allows this aspiring Nancy Drew to flex her investigative skills.
Before these three picked up on the sketchy happenings around them, everyone sort of operated on autopilot without noticing. Daily routines consist of work, going out for chicken, attending church, or stopping at the same liquor store to buy the same items. It doesn’t quite get into Atlanta-level Afro-Surrealism but the mind control of it all is similar to Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You.
They Cloned Tyrone defies categorization in style, tone, and genre. The time period stays ambiguous, but visually, it has the grainy film look of the 1970s. Costume designer Francine Jamison-Tanchuck (One Night in Miami) crafted a wardrobe for Yo-Yo and Slick Charles reminiscent of the era. The Glen as a whole looks like a regular neighborhood that hasn’t been fully modernized and production designer Franco-Giacomo Carbone (Creed II) brought subtle elements to show some settings were dated.
A great example of this new-old look is the haunted-looking trap house that has an elevator down to a sketchy underground lab with a retro-futuristic ambiance. Adding to the overall psychedelic viewing experience, director of photography Ken Seng (Deadpool) uses disorienting camera angles, especially when a scene is particularly weird. At night, some areas of the neighborhood have a lot of smoke/steam lit by neon, a classic horror effect.
Along with the creative visuals, the music of They Cloned Tyrone is one of its many strengths. Producer Stephen Love described the film’s score as “cosmic trap,” a term coined for new composer Desmond Murray’s sci-fi-infused tracks. However, the closed captioning labeled the music “funky ominous” and “somber funk.”
The trailer is set to Rockwell’s 1984 banger “Somebody’s Watching Me,” which itself is a mix of New Wave and R&B. And while the song doesn’t appear in the film, its synthy paranoia pop vibes perfectly exemplify the variety of tones. Philippe Pierre (Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.) and Stephanie Diaz-Matos (P-Valley) curated the tunes, which include hits from Michael Jackson and Diana Ross along with some mellow modern tracks that figure into the plot.
They Cloned Tyrone is a trippy amalgamation of a sci-fi conspiracy thriller, a Truman Show-esque satirical comedy, and an homage to stylish ’70s Blaxploitation à la Black Dynamite. Although the aesthetics may reflect recognizable influences and similarities, the film oozes with originality and is a unique experience on its own. The stacked cast brings life to these layered characters, capturing the complex emotions of trauma and unrealized dreams.
Taylor and Rettenmaier’s imaginative script has plenty of laughs and endlessly quotable lines that will surely find their way into the pop culture lexicon. But it’s also an exploration of humanity and community and speaks to the tragically true history of experiments on Black bodies. In other words, come for a laugh, stay for a message. Either way, They Cloned Tyrone is a good time.
They Cloned Tyrone debuted at the 2023 American Black Film Festival (ABFF). The film hits Netflix on July 21.
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