American Fiction(2023)

R
- Rated R for language throughout, some drug use, sexual references and brief violence.
1h 57m
- Comedy
- Drama

Release Date: December 15, 2023 | Wide

93
95
7.5

A novelist who's fed up with the establishment profiting from Black entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of the hypocrisy and madness he claims to disdain.

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Releases

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Fri May 29
Sat May 30
Sun May 31
Mon Jun 1
Tue Jun 2
Wed Jun 3
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Director & Top Cast

Jeffrey Wright
Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison

John Ortiz
Arthur

Erika Alexander
Coraline

Adam Brody!
Wiley Valdespino

Keith David
Willy the Wonker

Issa Rae
Actor

Myra Lucretia Taylor

Lorraine

Raymond Anthony Thomas

Actor

Okieriete Onaodowan

Actor

Miriam Shor

Paula Baderman

Michael Cyril Creighton

Actor

Patrick Fischler

Actor

Neal Lerner

Actor

J.C. MacKenzie

Carl Brunt

Jenn Harris

Ailene Hoover

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

Thelonious "Monk" Ellison is a highly intelligent African-American upper-class writer and professor in Los Angeles. His novels receive academic praise, but sell poorly, and publishers reject his latest manuscript for not being "black enough". His university places him on temporary leave due to his brashness with students over racial issues and suggests he attend a literary seminar and spend time with family in his hometown, Boston. At the seminar, his panel is poorly attended, yet there is a packed room for an interview with Sintara Golden, whose bestselling novel We's Lives in Da Ghetto panders to black stereotypes.In Boston, Monk bonds with his mother Agnes, who shows signs of Alzheimer's disease, and sister Lisa, a physician. While having drinks with Monk, Lisa suffers a heart attack and later dies in the hospital. Monk's estranged brother, Cliff, a plastic surgeon, attends Lisa's funeral. Cliff is divorced after his wife caught him cheating with a man; he now engages in frequent drug use and casual sex. Monk meets and starts dating Coraline, a lawyer living across the street.Frustrated by Sintara's success and the costs of care for his mother, Monk writes My Pafology, a satirical novel mocking the literary clichés expected from black writers: melodramatic plots, deadbeat dads, gang violence, drugs. After submitting it to publishers out of contempt, he is shocked to be offered a $750,000 advance, and his agent Arthur convinces him to adopt the persona of former convict "Stagg R. Leigh". As "Stagg", Monk is offered a movie deal from producer Wiley. In response to publishing executives' insulting comments, Monk tries to sabotage the deal by demanding the title be changed to Fuck. Unexpectedly, the executives agree. Monk is invited to help judge the New England Book Association's Literary Award as part of a "diversity push", and he reluctantly accepts. A fellow judge is Sintara, and Monk is surprised to learn she shares many of his views.Agnes moves into an assisted-living facility, but adapts poorly. Cliff briefly returns to Boston, but leaves after Agnes makes a homophobic remark. Fuck becomes a bestseller. Coraline, Cliff, and the public remain unaware that "Stagg" is Monk, and the FBI contacts the publisher, believing Stagg is a fugitive, as he claimed in interviews.On family-housekeeper Lorraine's wedding day, Monk finds Cliff living in Agnes's beach house with two other men: Cliff never left Boston and has been partying and doing drugs, but Lorraine is happy to have him attend the wedding. At the reception, Monk and Cliff discuss the impact of their father's suicide, and Cliff encourages Monk to let people "love all of him."Monk's publisher submits Fuck for the literary award, forcing him to judge his own novel. The panel's white Limousine liberal judges rave over Fuck, though Sintara calls it "pandering." Monk agrees, but later argues that Sintara's book is "trauma porn" and inauthentic to her African-American middle-class background. Sintara argues that she extensively researched her book by interviewing voiceless people, was "giving the market what it wants," and that it is not her fault if white readers formed stereotypes from her book. Monk is even more offended when he finds that Coraline enjoyed reading Fuck; they argue and break up.At the award ceremony, Fuck is announced as the winner. Monk goes onstage and says he has a confession to make. The screen cuts to black, and the story is revealed to be Monk's screenplay based on his experiences, written for Wiley's production company as an alternative to the Fuck film adaptation. Monk has not revealed his identity to the public and is still separated from Coraline. Wiley likes the screenplay but asks Monk to write a different ending.Monk proposes one with his running away from the ceremony to apologize to his ex-girlfriend. Wiley doesn't like this, as it is closer to romantic comedy. Monk then suggests one where police, believing Monk to be a wanted criminal holding a gun, fatally shoot him at the ceremony. Much to Monk's dismay, Wiley (also busy filming blaxploitation film Plantation Annihilation) loves it, and the film moves into production. Monk drives away with Cliff after he and one of Wiley's actors, playing a slave, acknowledge each other.

Storyline

Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut confronts our culture's obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who's fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write his own outlandish "Black" book--that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain. — MGM / Orion Pictures Thelonious "Monk" Ellison is a brilliant professor and author. However, his novels are not selling well. Frustrated with the system that thrives on overused and offensive stereotypes and those who think his work is not Black enough, Monk takes a break from teaching and decides to give the publishers what they want. Under a pseudonym, Monk crafts a book to turn the tables on the rapacious entertainment industry, but his preposterous parody eventually gains unexpected popularity. Now caught in a whirlwind of controversy and conflicting emotions, can Monk confront the very system he set out to criticise from the inside? — Nick Riganas

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