Film Review: IF I GO WILL THEY MISS ME (2026): A Truly Moving Portrait of an Everyday Family Looking for Hope

If I Go Will They Miss Me Review

If I Go Will They Miss Me (2026) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Walter Thompson-Hernandez and starring J. Alphonse Nicholson, Danielle Brooks, Bodhi Dell, Zaria Kelley, Mark Lane III, Myles Bullock, Bre-Z, Kameron J Meadows, Jeremiah King, McColm Cephas Jr., Nandi Nfr Ka, Ezekiel Pacheco and O’Cean Coleman.

Filmmaker Walter Thompson-Hernandez’s deeply profound gem, If I Go Will They Miss Me, is an example of a movie that starts off small, but becomes much bigger the more its characters come into focus. It’s a story of the consequences of a child being misunderstood, and the healing power of the family unit. This film opens with some kids getting rowdy and a janitor being attacked when a kid throws something at him. This sequence sets the stage for what is to come as the story develops.

We meet Big Ant (played as an adult by J. Alphonse Nicholson). He is dealing with being released from jail and into the household with his lover, Lozita (Danielle Brooks), and their middle school-aged son, Lil Ant (Bodhi Dell). Set in Watts California, this is also a moving tale of emotional pain and the wounds it creates as well as the methods which will help a child overcome heartbreak and despair.

If I Go Will They Miss Me bravely parallels Homer’s The Odyssey in its iteration of a father who is away from his family and what happens when he returns to it. Big Ant can be abusive in the way he treats Lil Ant even though he is fully aware that Lil Ant is his son. Lil Ant becomes very upset when things disappear from his room, which further complicates his trust in his family, perhaps his trust in his dad more than anyone else. Lil Ant sometimes asks, “if I go, will they miss me?” Big Ant and Lozita are dealing with their own complex dynamic where communication isn’t always on point.

Walter Thompson-Hernandez allows his characters to be flawed as human beings. Big Ant hits Lil Ant at one point, and one of Big Ant’s friends points out how very wrong that is. Lozita tries to talk sense into Big Ant, but they can’t always find common ground together as a couple. Lil Ant is on a journey to understanding how he fits into the world, and into his parents’ lives. By going to the beach together, Big Ant and Lil Ant bond, but that isn’t enough in the long run to make their bond a successful one. They will need to truly come to terms with what the other one of them needs, which creates the dramatic dynamics of the movie.

Bodhi Dell is a revelation in this movie. Lil Ant tries to figure out his place in the world as he tries on wings as he feels it is his genuine purpose to find his true calling in the world. While Lozita is a loving parent, she is also consumed by the need to let Big Ant know what is expected of him as a father. Children come together in the neighborhood in some of the film’s symbolic images, which serve to move the film along with genuine grace and meaning.

J. Alphonse Nicholson is the film’s most valuable asset. He creates a man who is genuinely lacking the necessary skills to be a dad, but Nicholson also creates a man who wants to find what it truly means to be a dad to a son who desperately needs him. Nicholson and Dell have some great, moving scenes that show the development of their relationship over the course of the picture.

Danielle Brooks is always fabulous, and this work here is no exception. Brooks creates a multi-faceted woman with a real purpose to connect with the man she has chosen as her partner. Brooks is nothing short of astounding in her scenes in this film, one of which shows her dressed up on the most important day of her life. You can feel all Brooks’ pain and passion in a heartfelt performance. This film doesn’t shy away from Big Ant and Lozita finding middle ground together through their interaction over the course of the picture.

If I Go Will They Miss Me is the type of achievement that unveils the marking of a wonderful filmmaker with a great future ahead. Walter Thompson-Hernandez is not afraid to  be honest, raw and vulnerable in the way the filmmaker tells this passionate tale of love and compassion. It’s such a powerful film that its ambitions are matched by the heart that is in every frame on-screen in this dramatic piece of film-making that shows the strength of the bond of the family. It also displays the importance of finding oneself as a young man through seeing where this young boy actually fits into the society in which he was born.

This movie doesn’t shy away from difficult subject matter. It embraces it through performances that are real and human. Genuinely touching, every frame and every shot of If I Go Will They Miss Me is full of the beautiful, passionate mysteries that make up life for both a child and his father. This is a layered, character-focused drama that is unparalleled in its sincerity and it wears its heart on its sleeve. What a powerful film this is.

Rating: 8/10

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