Beyond the Lights

Review by Pamela Zoslov

A preview screening of BEYOND THE LIGHTS opens with a brief, sincere speech by writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood welcoming audiences to her first film since 2008, and asking people to tell their friends about it. It's an unusual thing to do, but Prince-Blythewood is an atypical filmmaker. A former TV writer and director (A Different World, among others), she directed feature films including cult favorite LOVE & BASKETBALL (2000), about a romance between high-school basketball players, and THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES (2008). Her narratives are psychologically complex, often involving parent-child struggles the filmmaker says emanate from her experience as a biracial adopted child. “I just think it makes for better writing when you're coming from a real place,” she told an interviewer. Her films are woman-centric, extending even to employing mostly female key crew members.