Watchmen and The Good Place screenwriter Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut American Fiction took home the biggest prize at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival: the People’s Choice Award. While American Fiction is hilarious as a satire, it’s too long and is weighed down by the melodramatic family drama used as the motivation for its characters.
Based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett, American Fiction tells the story of an African-American author who, disillusioned with his lack of success in the publishing world, jokingly decides to write a satirical “race novel” only for it to become an unintentional runaway success. It’s crazy that over two decades later, Everett’s satire remains eerily prescient to today’s landscape.
American Fiction skewers the creation of literature and media that exploits Black trauma for the enjoyment of non-Black audiences. Stories that are at once sensationalized and sanitized for white audiences (the original novel calls out Native Son and Push as examples, but the movie uses a fictional novel called “We’s Lives in Da Ghetto” as its target). Interestingly, the film doesn’t spare even media made by Black creators — pointing out a system that forces Black creators to tell this type of story or risk their success.
American Fiction is at its best when it leans into its satire
The better portions of the movie are those which are satirical, exploring the hypocritical nature of the Black storytelling community. Although American Fiction deals specifically with literature, its message could also apply to other mediums like cinema. It’s extremely funny, even if the jokes are on-the-nose and obvious. The absurdity hits the nail on the head in a way that manages to get the laugh.
Unfortunately, the movie is weighed down by the maudlin family drama that comprises the rest of the story. The protagonist is driven to abandon his morals by a death in the family and another on the way. Although the film never panders to white audiences in the way that some race-centered dramedies do (looking at you, Green Book), it nonetheless feels pandering to mainstream audiences because of its excessive sentimentality.
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Jeffrey Wright’s performance in the leading role is absolutely stunning. Wright is often in more serious roles — frequently playing the straight-laced side character even when he is in a comedy — so it’s surprising to see him flex his comedic chops here so well. His timing and delivery are both impeccable and never fail to get a laugh.
Also a standout is Sterling K. Brown, who is absolutely hilarious in his supporting role. Brown shows here again that he is one of the most chameleonic actors working today — not in terms of his physical appearance, but the personalities he is able to encapsulate with his mannerisms. Here, he really gets to flex his charm in a way that will win audiences over easily.
The rest of the supporting cast is also pretty good, even if it is Wright and Brown who steal the show. John Ortiz and Issa Rae both have great supporting turns, with pitch-perfect takes on their characters, and Tracee Ellis Ross makes the most of her small, but thoroughly emotional role.
As is the case with most TIFF People’s Choice Award winners, American Fiction immediately entered the Oscars conversation after being bestowed its title. If this ends up being a contender beyond Screenplay and the acting categories, it will be shocking. Although there are plenty of good ideas here, the execution is far too uneven to leave much of a lingering impact. It’s solid, but you can see the potential it had to be something more.
American Fiction screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, which ran September 7-17 in Toronto, Canada.
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Rating: 7/10
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