REVIEW: A Luminous Lead Performance and Sensitive Filmmaking Drive Pariah
On the bus home from a night out at a lesbian club, Fort Greene teenager Alike (Adepero Oduye) swaps her tomboyish outfit for earrings and a pink t-shirt, something clearly not of her own choosing, something selected to appease her mother. Alike is 17 and closeted, at least at home. Her mom Audrey (Kim Wayans) is uptight, religious and almost quivers with the effort of seeing her daughter as she wants her to be and not as she actually is. While Alike's closer to her father Arthur (Charles Parnell), a cop, he's chosen to step back from the tensions at home and in his marriage. Liking boys and makeup comes naturally to her younger sister Sharonda (Shamika Cotton) -- our heroine is alone in her own personal form of camouflage, trying to blend into the background wherever she goes.
