What would you do if you found out that the real you died yesterday, and you’re the replacement?
Release date: 14 July 2023 (USA)
Director: Juel Taylor
Produced by: Charles D. King; Stephen “Dr.” Love; Tony Rettenmaier; Juel Taylor; Jamie Foxx; Datari Turner
Screenplay: Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier
Distributed by: Netflix
Cinematography: Ken Seng
Cast: Jamie Foxx, John Boyega, Tayonah Parris, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Kiefer Sutherland, David Alan Grier, Megan Sousa, Shariff Earp, Tyler Antonius, Trayce Malachi, Joshua Mikel, Brian Tyree Henry
Summary
They Cloned Tyrone is a science fiction thriller comedy that revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a young black man named Tyrone, or for the purpose of the first 100 scenes, Fontaine, leading his two friends, Slick Charles and Yo-Yo, on a quest to uncover the truth. As they delve deeper into the investigation, they discover a shocking secret: Fontaine has been cloned by a covert government experiment.
The film explores themes of identity, conspiracy, and the consequences of scientific advancements while delivering a gripping narrative filled with suspense and unexpected twists, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats until the thrilling conclusion.
Story line
This might be my favourite movie of the year so far.
The movie portrays how the devil (the government) has permeated very deep into the black culture. Black people are typically very spiritual, and have a lot of soul. And there is a conscious agenda to keep them institutionalised and held down. It begins with foreshadowing of cloning with a group of guys arguing when one of theirs claims he saw Michael Jackson at the piggly wiggly. The movie explains how black people have been mind-controlled by introducing substances in their food, music, perm, and quite ironically, in their churches. And what’s worse is they are collaborating with black people to do it. The fact that Fontaine was referred to as a patriot by the white man just goes to show that he’s being used to control his own people without even knowing.
“Do what you do best, look the other way.”
The twists in the third act are very VERY intriguing. For once, I’m gonna try not to spoil it for anyone because this is one of the few black culture movies that NEEDS to be seen by everyone who has melanin in their skin. It’s a truly breathtaking experience. Also, it’s rather telling that the only character that wasn’t susceptible to mind control was the black woman. That told me a lot. They are far stronger than they are presumed to be, and erroneously overlooked. It was also telling that the one character who saw everything was the “bum” on the corner.
The message that there are those whose agenda is to create clones of people who perpetuate the negative stereotypes in black culture rings true to me. Just look at how many Lil’ Something Somethings there have been since Lil’ Wayne, and to be honest, that’s not the most ideal role model in the world, but every new rapper seems to want to be like him and he’s practically been cloned a million times. Look how trap music has been promoted and pushed hard in the black music scene and how many Futures there have been since Future. All they talk about is abusing drugs and women. And it’s imbued into people’s subconscious every single day.
The story gets an A++ from me.
I happen to understand that an elite few control the music, media, education, food and technology, and they have an agenda that is not particularly beneficial to the general public. Not many movies portray that truth as jarringly as this one does. Guard your eyes and your ears people, you are being manipulated and controlled.
Costume and Setting
This might be the best thing about the movie. It’s so black culture, it’s watermelon and Kool-Aid. It’s unapologetically negro: the Cadillacs, the hairstyles, the perms, the grills, the hoodies and bumper jackets, the bottle of 40 in the brown envelope, the kids riding bicycles down the street, and most importantly, the culture: pimps, women and drug dealers.
The visuals in the underground labs were also pretty eerie. I mean the movie already has doom and gloom as the weather forecast, but those underground labs where they were experimenting on black people, playing songs to control their moods to make them hug/fight, showing them images to affect their self esteem, making them depressed/happy at will, that was just a mind blowing scene.
Cinematography
One word: Clean!
The treatment of this movie reminds me of the 2015 movie Dope with Shameik Moore. It’s very hood, with every scene depicting exactly what it needs to depict. The movie is actually so brilliantly shot it will keep you captivated from start to finish.
The way the camera pans in the cloning chamber at the beginning of the second act to show Slick staring at his clone was so eerie. But my personal favourite shot in the movie is when he rolls in with the Cadillac Calvary right at the beginning of the third act, when they start plotting how to rescue Yo-Yo. You know the one with the squad riding high with the spinning gold wheels?
Yeah.
A gorgeous scene. A gorgeous movie.
Acting
John Boyega is quite frankly becoming one of the greats. Straight up respect to the brother. How he’s able to take on (Black) American roles and use Black American accents complete with the ebonics, all the while being a British-born Nigerian, is stuff that should be studied. He’s incredibly versatile. Boyega was incredibly riveting as Fontaine, a role I would never have envisioned him portraying, but one that he nails incredibly well.
When Fontaine finds his clones he’s so exasperated and so flustered, and when he finds out his “mother” is a tape recorder, he actually loses it. His performance is quite intriguing. He also, at some point, fights his doppelgänger, which was a performance that rivalled Ezra Miller’s in The Flash movie. I already talked about how incredible that performance is, and his is equally visually stunning. He successfully plays multiple…and I mean multiple roles. You’ll see what I mean when you watch the movie.
Jamie Foxx as Slick Charles is AMAZING. As always. I’m pretty sure you expect it, cos that man is undoubtedly one of the most naturally talented individuals to ever stand in front of a camera, but the 1995 International Players Ball Pimp of the Year is astonishing in this movie.
“It’s a elevator. In a trap house! Don’t it make your Spider senses tingle?”
Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, by far the best actor in the movie is Teyonah Parris. Her performance is stunning! She plays Yo-Yo, the black Nancy Drew, and is somehow able to figure out way more than everyone else. I know that’s how her character was written, but she delivers it brilliantly. Honourable mention to her hair in this movie. Quite the supporting character’s supporting character.
Last but not least, I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t mention David Alan Grier’s performance as the church pastor. It’s very reminiscent of the role he played in Jamie Foxx’s Netflix series Dad Stop Embarrassing Me where he does similar ululations with his voice while singing the “greens beans potatoes tomatoes” song. I’m sure there’s a direct correlation between those two roles, and I loved it.
Rating
4D
★★★★☆
They Cloned Tyrone is one of the most amazing movies I have ever seen. It looks like it was shot by Diddy, and feels like it was directed by Jordan Peele. It’s visually appealing and very sinister, and you probably already know how much of an admirer I am of movies that uncover hidden truths in our world today. I’m usually not a fan of Netflix-owned movies because the studio has generally put out largely lacklustre content, but I have to say…
This is the best Netflix movie I’ve ever watched.
I wrote this article while watching the movie, downloaded it and then watched it again and came back to rewrite this review. I am impressed, not just with the production, but also with the message and the delivery thereof. It’s a masterpiece and I hope everyone of my melanated brothers and sisters gets the chance to see it.
