PHOTO: DOMINIC BINDI

Ross builds on the intimate, impressionistic style he first honed as a photographer—a style so striking it earned his debut film, Hale County This Morning, This  Evening, an Oscar  nod (see “A Symphony of Moments,” Nov.-Dec. 2028). Here making his first foray into fiction, Ross swings big by alternating much of the camera work between the points of view of two young protagonists. Some critics called it distracting; others lauded it as immersive and devastating. “Some films shine brighter than others,” says Robert Daniels for RogerEbert.com, and this one “is polished to a remarkable luster.... This isn’t a film that holds your hand. Ross... teaches the viewer how to see and feel the world through Black eyes. If the lesson doesn’t take, the blame does not lie with the film.