Netflix’s Imperial Dreams starring John Boyega and Keke Palmer is an emotionally tough watch. Boyega, a 21-year-old recently released from incarceration has to take care of his son while his son’s mother is still imprisoned. Writer/Director Malik Vitthal has another tough film to make. There is a backlash against the recent release of films based or inspired by the killings of unarmed Black people and post-Black Lives Matter world. The concept of his 2019 film Body Cam is very similar to the first tale from Tales From The Hood, but is now being told in a very different climate. Police brutality was rampant in the 90s, but not many were caught on camera as they are now. Footage of an unarmed Black person killed by police and then the officers manipulating the body cam footage could trigger audiences into not seeing the film at all. Maybe the promise of seeing authority figures getting away with murder being haunted by their malicious decisions will be intriguing enough to gain viewers. Or just tell people it’s starring Mary J Blige. She hasn’t been racially offensive since the Burger King commercial.
