Malik (Jason Mitchell) and Alexis (DreamDoll) are riffing about the best quotes from Boyz ‘N the Hood, driving down a typical city street. Their appreciation for each other – and willingness to debate – seems like a reasonably typical buddy film, and then the guy in the back seat sits up, his restraints evident. This is not what the audience has been led to believe by the clever banter over the first few minutes; this husband/wife duo isn’t out on a meet cute, but is instead getting ready to storm the apartment complex of up-and-coming gangster-trafficker King David (NLE Choppa). Think The Raid meets Taken with a twist of Black culture and marriage thrown in for good measure. It’s a violent, wild ride, but don’t discount its heart.
Let’s be honest: you either like this kind of movie or you don’t. Thankfully, I do, and my appreciation for what director Wes Miller has been doing since Prayer Never Fails debuted in 2016 continues to grow. Hell on the Border, River Runs Red, A Day to Die, all of these have been films that Miller created, often with a hand in the screenwriting and direction. (In this one, his daughter even has a part!) He is looking at big picture ideas, like parenthood, the problem of evil, pursuing one’s dreams, and much, much more. Black Heat is no different.
Malik and Alexis have backstories, some of which the audience learns over time. But they are more than flimsy caricatures of people. They both love each other, and love their daughter, who is now addicted to drugs and to King David. We can see how she has been caught under his charismatic spell, and why her parents love her too much to leave her to a life of drugs and prostitution. We can see how their family matters, and how it’s been fractured by decisions of its members over time. It’s a problem that will profanely and violently be unpacked over the course of the film.
And then there’s the funny, stylistic way that Miller’s camera follows his script stage by stage through the apartment building/hotel that King David uses to bring in income and control his subordinates. It’s not always linear but it’s clever, and certainly shows more style than a number of similar films of its kind. Each character we meet has some nuance, thanks to the script and the acting of those peripheral characters. Miller uses these insights to show the audience the complexity of how people end up where they do – sometimes by chance, sometimes by the actions of others, and sometimes by their own decisions.
While the audience probably comes for the “storming the castle” moments, I always find myself seeing the glimpse of faith that Miller carries in his own heart. When the couple initially discusses their plan to go room from room, violently seeking their own daughter, they include “the church” as a place that they sought help but ultimately abandoned. When the couple’s daughter is processing her feelings about family late in the film, a kindhearted, broken character in the apartment complex tells her that God will always love her, no matter where she goes or what she does. These are moments that are highlighted for me after nearly a decade of discussing film with Miller, but there’s an even bigger theme that rises clearly from the narrative itself.
Fatherhood.
Alexis is no shrinking violet, and DreamDoll’s chemistry with Mitchell is solid. But this is ultimately a study of how Malik determines his way forward toward rescuing his daughter and being a father. We see it foreshadowed in the Boyz ‘N the Hood discussion, about memorable quotes, with the couple determining that “Any fool can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children” ranks high on the list. Black Heat explores that idea, and challenges its audience to consider what makes a true parent – male or female – and how we are loved as the children of God.
