Dee Rees's semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale boasts a vivid performance by Adepero Oduye as Alike, a talented Brooklyn high school student who secretly accompanies her best friend Laura (Pernell Walker)—a defiantly out lesbian—on the club scene. Laura has been disowned by her mother, and Alike's uptight mom, Audrey (Kim Wayans), is concerned that her daughter might be headed in the same direction and is anxious to break up their friendship. The relationship between Alike and Audrey takes an unexpected turn when the latter pushes her daughter toward Bina (Aasha Davis), the daughter of a church friend, who invites Alike into bed during a sleepover. Although the twist is nicely ironic, Pariah is unfortunately undermined by Wayans' overly shrill performance and Bina's underwritten character. More affecting is Alike's loving relationship with her father, Arthur (Charles Parnell), a cop who is not ready to deal with his suspicion that his daughter might be gay. Pariah is overly diffuse, juggling the heroine's connections with girlfriends, parents, a younger sister, and even an English teacher who encourages Alike's writing, but it still remains a revealing portrait of a girl's struggle to find herself. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Trying Out Identity” wardrobe featurette (3 min.), “Dee Rees: A Director's Style” segment (2 min.), “A Walk in Brooklyn” location featurette (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a solid coming-of-age film.] (F. Swietek)
[Blu-ray/DVD Review—June 28, 2021—Criterion, 86 min., R, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray:$39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, Pariah (2011) boasts an excellent 2K digital transfer and extras including a new conversation between director Dee Rees and filmmaker and scholar Michelle Parkerson, a new cast reunion (featuring Rees, Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell, and Aasha Davis, moderated by scholar Jacqueline Stewart), a new “making-of” featurette (with Rees, cinematographer Bradford Young, production designer Inbal Weinberg, producer Nekisa Cooper, and editor Mako Kamitsuna, moderated by Stewart), a new interview with film scholar Kara Keeling (author of Queer Times, Black Futures), and a booklet with an essay by critic Cassie da Costa. Bottom line: Dee’s contemporary LGBTQ indie film exploring the black female experience is a welcome addition to the Criterion Collection.]