Amandla Stenberg – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MY ANIMAL (Sundance FF2023) – Review by Nadine Whitney

January 29, 2023 Nadine Whitney Amandla Stenberg, Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Jacqueline Castel, Jae Matthews, lycanthropy, My Animal, Sundance FF2023

What lets My Animal down is Jae Matthews’ script which meanders in too many directions and engages in a kind of fatalism that feeds into queer misery. Despite the strong central performances, technically accomplished direction, and an excellent soundtrack, My Animal doesn’t quite know what its central thesis is. Is it worse that Heather is a lesbian in a small community, or is it worse that she’s an actual mythical monster? If she becomes open about her sexuality does she unleash a beast?

Reviews

BODIES, BODIES, BODIES – Review by Susan Granger

August 17, 2022August 20, 2022 Susan Granger Amandla Stenberg, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Halina Reijn, Kristen Roupenian, Rachel Sennot, Sarah DeLappe

Here’s the set-up: five longtime friends and their respective companions gather at a remote vacation house on the eve of a predicted hurricane. They decide to play an improv game in which players ‘kill’ someone by touching them. Whomever discovers the ‘murder’ yells: “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies” – and everyone has to figure out who the ‘killer’ is. The chaotic shrieks and scares are supposed to be great fun until – one after another – various participants are brutally slaughtered. Whodunit? Who cares?

Reviews

DEAR EVAN HANSEN – Review by Susan Granger

September 21, 2021September 25, 2021 Susan Granger Amandla Stenberg, amy adams, Ben Platt, Colton Ryan, Dear Evan Hansen, julianne moore, kaitlyn dever

Some Broadway shows transfer admirably to the big screen. Others don’t. Actor Ben Platt won plaudits for playing the titular teenager in this coming-of-age musical, but now he’s 27 and not quite as believable as an angst-riddled high-schooler.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Essence to Honor Stenberg, Lewis, Layne and Hall for Activism – Brandy McDonnell reports

January 23, 2019January 23, 2019 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments Amandla Stenberg, essence black women in hollywood awards, jenifer lewis, kiki layne, regina hall

Essence will honor Amandla Stenberg, Jenifer Lewis, Kiki Layne and Regina Hall at this year’s 12th Annual Black Women in Hollywood Awards set for Feb. 21 at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, California.

Reviews

THE HATE U GIVE – Review by Susan Granger

October 23, 2018October 23, 2018 Susan Granger 0 Comments algee smith, Amandla Stenberg, angie thomas, audrey wells, george tillman jr, regina hall, the hate u give

Based on Angie Thomas’ bestselling 2017 YA novel, this social justice drama revolves around teenage Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), who is trying to maintain an emotional balance as she straddles two disparate worlds. Raised in the poor, predominantly black Georgia neighborhood of Garden Heights, Starr goes to Williamson Prep a private, predominantly white suburban school. That involves constant code-switching.

Reviews

THE HATE U GIVE – Review by Roxana Hadadi

October 22, 2018June 8, 2020 Roxana Hadadi 0 Comments Amandla Stenberg, angie thomas, audrey wells, regina hill, the hate u give

The Hate U Give is an important film and a weighty film, one that raises questions about what we as a society will accept — from our community members, from our leaders, from the politicians who are supposed to represent us, from the police who are supposed to protect us. The movie, based on the novel by Angie Thomas, considers a tragedy that feels simultaneously ripped from the headlines and quite commonplace: the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer.

Spotlight

SPOTLIGHT September 2015: Amandla Stenberg, Actress, Activist In the Making

August 31, 2015October 17, 2018 Rebecca Pahle 0 Comments Amandla Stenberg, Colombiana, cultural appropriation, feminism, hunger games, Sleepy Hollow

At age 16, Amandla Stenberg stands beside AWFJ’s previously SPOTLIGHTed champions of diversity and feminism. Since Stenberg burst onto the scene with her portrayal of Rue in the first Hunger Games movie, she’s become a leading force in conversations surrounding cultural appropriation and the need for intersectional feminism.