James Baldwin could have written something like this. A Thousand And One at its best plays like a beautiful poem, celebrating parents everywhere for all the things they do for their kids. And for Teyana Taylor, forged by Beyonce and Pharell Williams for high society, she continues to prove there are greater depths of her talent than even the Bey hive and Hat man might have anticipated when she was collabing with them.
Fresh out of a short stint at Riker’s Island in 1994, 22 year old Inez (Teyana Taylor) tries to get her life back on track. While hustling to do people’s hair on the streets of Harlem, she stumbles across little T (Terry, played by Aaron Kingsley Adetola). T happens to be Inez’s child, taken from her by the state when she was arrested. After a foster parent incident lands T in the hospital, Inez decides she will retake her son back and raise him again. While noble, this is troubling, obviously, because Inez doesn’t exactly have a stable life because she’s so young and the state could come looking for T at any time.
Movies are at their best when you realize that they might have been lifted from the pages of a great classic novel. A Thousand And One carries that power throughout its tale the minute AV Rockwell plants us in 1990’s Harlem. What’s so incredible about A Thousand And One is how simple its story looks from afar: unmarried single mother cares for son. But Rockwell’s laser focus on Inez’s day to day struggles elevate the storytelling to Shakespearean levels. Basic needs most humans have (a home, food, loved ones) are not guaranteed in Inez and T’s world. As such, the struggle becomes essentially the right to happiness and existence itself. Through the eyes of Inez, that means constant, endless sacrifice of everything: HER dreams, HER happiness, HER chance at love. Even when she fights back for things like HER dignity, she has to learn to compromise on that too all for the chance that T can break the cycle of poverty Inez and generations before her are immersed in. The barrage of mini challenges to overcome makes her likely forgotten life’s struggle, if you’re actually paying attention, something that should be celebrated instead of something to brush aside like the political voiceovers dictate. And despite systemic forces conspiring against her, Inez pushes forward, laser focused on giving T a chance at a life she never had, meaning the struggles pale in comparison to the happiness both T and Inez have, finding strength in one another’s companionship. This joy of combined purpose gives A Thousand And One this beautiful ephemeral contentedness amidst the swirling melancholy.
What becomes clear though right away in A Thousand And One is that Teyana Taylor was ready for this acting challenge. Taylor, from Harlem herself, has been working since 15 years old, grinding and finding ways to constantly challenge herself creatively. I don’t know that Taylor knew any Inez’s in her real life, but she certainly understands Rick Ross culture. Taylor uses her upbringing to explode Inez into reality, and evolving her into what will be one of 2023’s great characters. At the outset, Inez is a young, firebreathing dragon mom, living on respect and parenting responsibilities. Taylor gives the audience glimpses of both the external and internal dichotomy Inez faces: she’s gotta project confidence and strength but is clearly overwhelmed and frustrated with the amount of hurdles she has to jump even just to find a place to live. Over time, the constant assault of responsibility evolves Inez into an adult forged by her circumstances, but still clear in her responsibility to raise T the right way. She learns how to fight like an adult, burying that anger and fire in favor of thoughtful, honest conversation to find the right way to parent T, alongside her on again off again husband Lucky (Will Catlett, pretty incredible as well). By the end, Taylor has fully evolved Inez into an almost different person, but still close enough to her 22 year old self that the subtle changes make sense, a testament to Teyana Taylor’s magnetic, and well thought out performance that couldn’t help but bury itself deep into my heart. Never doubt the Bey hive.
In the Heights. If Beale Street Could Talk. Summer of Soul. West Side Story. There’s a cultural richness and specificity in between the East River and the Hudson River on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that deserves the movie success its achieving. A Thousand And One can proudly stand alongside these incredible films, giving us another brilliant story about living life in an amazing place amongst amazing people. Stories like these need to be told, more and more, and I hope the deep well of amazing lifeblood in the Upper West Side of NYC continues the boundless creativity and experiences promised by amazing stories like A Thousand And One.