In the last five months, we have been given cinematic gifts that showcase what Black creatives can bring to the film industry. Seeing so much work recognized at once has been inspiring and glorious to witness. From docs and animation to drama and musicals to comedy and action, we have seen timeless work across all genres this year. Sundance brings another gem to the fold with Rob Peace, a heartbreaking yet inspirational and aspirational film based on the best-selling biography by Jeff Hobbs, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League.
Life is hard. Harder for some than others. Rob Peace is just a glimpse of how hard it can be to change or find your way out of certain circumstances when you’re Black. Written and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, 12 Years a Slave) the film follows the life of Rob Peace (Jay Will), a Black kid from East Orange, New Jersey, who had a passion for science that led him to Yale. But graduating with honors didn’t stop him from being shot and killed at the young age of 30. Excelling at the highest level didn’t stop the institutional and systemic failure that he experienced all his life. Rob Peace also stars Ejiofor, Camila Cabello (Cinderella, 2021), Mary J. Blige (Power Book II: Ghost), Michael Kelly (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan), Curt Morlaye (Dickinson), and Benjamin Papac (Greenhouse Academy).
In Nina Simone’s song, “Young, Gifted and Black” there’s a verse that says, “To be young, gifted, and Black, oh, what a lovely, precious dream. To be young, gifted, and Black, open your heart to what I mean.” These words floated around my head while watching Rob Peace. Here was a young, gifted, and Black man who did what he was supposed to while also doing what he had to do. Many will be surprised to learn that even when privileged enough to attend the right school or meet the right people, economic realities can/will/have altered many paths to success. The film does an amazing job of making the point that many BIPOCs can come up against unyielding and tremendously hard barriers that can make it impossible to pursue our passions.
One theme that resonated in Rob Peace was balance. How do you balance commitment to family, community, and yourself when you are battling systemic discrimination across the most important areas of your life (justice, health, housing, education)? When disadvantage has been a prime factor in your life, you want something different for those who come after you. How do you break the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage? Rob was on the right path. But, he also had a responsibility to his family and his community. He just wanted better for everyone.
Lorraine Hansberry, the iconic playwright and activist, once said in the wake of the famous Baldwin-Kennedy meeting of 1963, “[We] are not remotely interested in the old, insulting concept of the ‘exceptional Negro’…What we are interested in is making perfectly clear that between the Negro intelligentsia and the Negro middle class, and the Negro this and that, that we are one people.”
Black people have always had this understanding that when one of us wins, we all win. Rob seemed to fully embrace this idea that community identity is important, a driving force that can create pride, self-respect, unity, a sense of belonging, and social responsibility. Being the first person to go to college, let alone an Ivy League school, brings forth the idea of wanting to lead by example. The idea of, “If I can do it, so can you,” is one theme that we all want to share with our communities.
Julliard-trained Jay Will portrays teen and adult Rob in the film and does an incredible job showing what it means to be authentically yourself in all surroundings. It is refreshing to see, and also very powerful. His portrayal speaks to the pride and love Rob had for himself and where he came from. Will comes off as very charismatic, and although you suspect where things are headed, he makes you still hold out hope that maybe it will be okay. The scenes between Will and Ejiofor, who plays his father, and Mary J. Blige, who plays his mother, all highlight the family dynamics between father and son and mother and son.
While I could have done without the voiceover in the first third of the film and the unclear passage of time that leads to a gun-toting Rob, what rings true is that Rob Peace is a great, teachable film. Rob had strong aspirations to help his friends, family, and community be the best they could be. In the real world, he continues to motivate and inspire generations. This film is truly a must-watch. You might want to read the biography as well to learn the full story of this amazing young man.
