“You trusted love this far. Trust it all the way,” says Regina King in an emotional new trailer for “If Beale Street Could Talk.” Barry Jenkins’ follow-up to “Moonlight” is an adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel of the same name and tells the story of Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James), childhood friends turned lovers. King plays Tish’s mother, who offers her daughter emotional support when tragedy strikes: Fonny is falsely accused of a crime, and must await trial in prison. Making matters even more complicated — and heartbreaking — is the fact that Tish is pregnant with their child.
Determined to get Fonny out of prison before the baby is born, Tish insists that she’s “with” him even when he’s behind bars.
Layne received a nod for Breakthrough Actor at last night’s Gotham Awards for “If Beale Street Could Talk,” and the drama was nominated for Best Feature.
“The film talks in such a real way about the injustices the black community faced in the early ’70s but still face today, issues of wrongful incarceration and what the justice system looks like for black people growing up in poverty,” Layne has said. “But at the core of it is a really beautiful love story between Tish and Fonny. I don’t feel like I’ve seen this for young black actors — there’s this tenderness that I just don’t see.”
“If Beale Street Could Talk” opens December 14 in NY and LA with additional cities to follow December 25.
