In a festival of many breakthroughs, one of the major ones of Sundance Film Festival 2023 was A.V. Rockwell and her directorial debut, the Grand Jury Prize winner A Thousand and One. Starring Teyana Taylor, Will Catlett, Josiah Cross, Aven Courtney, and Aaron Kingsley Adetola the film follows the unapologetic and free-spirited Inez, who kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system. Holding onto their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability, in a rapidly changing New York City. Set for a wide release from Focus Features at the end of next month, the first trailer has now landed.
Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his Sundance review, “In the beginning of A Thousand and One, the New York City streets are alive, detailed and humming with swagger. It’s 1993 and Inez struts through Brooklyn after a five-year stint at Rikers Island, readjusting to the rhythms of freedom. The sun bakes the brownstones, hip-hop echoes around storefronts, and kids suck on ice pops––the kind of weather and atmosphere Samuel L. Jackson might be yammering about from his bedroom window. But there’s no time to waste. Inez is looking for Terry, the seven-year-old she left behind and hopes to reclaim.”
See the trailer below.
A Thousand and One opens on March 31 in theaters nationwide.