Film Review: QUEEN OF GLORY: A Heartfelt Character Study that Will Engage Audiences [Tribeca 2021]

Queen of Glory Review

Queen of Glory (2021) Film Review from the 20th Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a movie directed by Nana Mensah, and starring Nana Mensah, Meeko Gattuso, Oberon K.A. Adjepong, Adam Leon, Ward Horton, Elia Monte-Brown, Purva Bedi, Anya Migdal, Daniel Reece, Alok Tewari, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Russell G. Jones, Sholanty Taylor, Jocelyn Kuritsky, Emma Kaye and Vincent Leong.

Writer/director/star Nana Mensah’s new film, Queen of Glory, is a surprisingly captivating new drama. Not only does the film keep the viewer invested in the main character Sarah Obeng (Mensah)’s dilemmas from beginning to end, it also provides a story line that will be deeply relatable to viewers as it leaves them to question their own values versus the values our culture or religious background has instilled in us. It also helps that the film is authentically set mostly in the Bronx, New York and has an urban edge that is missing from so many recent films set in New York City.

We meet Sarah who is a Ghanaian-American PhD student/scientist at Columbia University who actually makes time to grade papers as opposed to her colleague who claims she’s too busy. She’s seeing a married guy who she works with. His name is Lyle and he’s effectively played by Adam Leon.  Lyle is going to Ohio and Sarah plans to follow him there. Sarah’s mom Grace suddenly dies. Grace has left Sarah her Christian bookstore called King of Glory as the film’s plot begins to unfold.

It seems the easy answer for Sarah is to just sell off the bookstore and move on. She just has to “let go” the store’s one employee who she discovers is an ex-con named Pitt (Meeko Gattuso in a star-making supporting turn). Pitt has tattoos across both sides of his face and is a tough man who remained loyal to Grace which is why she has kept him employed. Pitt has a family and won’t have an easy time finding another job.

To make matters worse, Sarah’s estranged father (Oberon K.A. Adjepong) shows up and they have to conduct a traditional cultural ceremony to pay respects to the deceased Grace. Sarah just wants to take off and go to Ohio and believes Lyle will leave his wife and children in order to take her with him. Sarah has to buy meat for the upcoming ceremony but she doesn’t like to eat meat–she much prefers to order pizzas instead.

There is a touching friendship formed in the film between Sarah and Pitt. Sarah doesn’t tell Pitt of her plans to sell the bookstore and Pitt thinks he’s secure with his job there. Pitt is an excellent worker who can manage stocking, operating the cash register and interacting with customers quite well. These two characters are the highlight of the film and keep the viewer interested in their development throughout the film. Pitt even has a surprising “side hustle” of his own that he pursues which helps make conversation as Sarah and Pitt work together.

There is also a Russian family who Sarah is friends with and there are scenes of the chaotic nature of the pregnant Russian mother’s life juggling her children and household duties. These sequences work well and are used to help show Sarah’s diverse personal connections. This aspect of the film is an accurate depiction of life in New York City as everybody lives according to their own background or upbringing but does their best to get along with other people of different backgrounds.

Nana Mensah’s leading performance is the stuff great performances are made of. We feel all her pain and passion throughout. When the time comes to have the ceremony to pay respect to her mom, she begins to get very emotional as all the chaos of her life seems to finally catch up to her in that moment.

Gattuso as Pitt is effective and believable. We like his character and understand the hard choice Sarah must make in regards to deciding whether or not to keep the bookstore.

Also effective is the DVD street merchant who is featured in a motif in the film. He tells people passing by that the merchandise he is selling is of good quality. This merchant also suggests different genres of films to his clients and it’s a clever little collection of scenes that add humor and give the movie an urban appeal.

Mensah’s writing and direction is really strong. This is an assured, confident film that will move audiences and has many compelling scenes. These sequences could be much less compelling if Mensah’s performance wasn’t as terrific as it is. She keeps the film moving at a quick pace as we watch her and root for her throughout. This film is very highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10

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