The guy, Micah, (played by the very talented Wyatt Cenac) is a racially conscious or more obsessed indie who loves San Fran, but is conspicuously not in love. The girl, Jo, (played by Tracy Heggins) enjoys the "now" more than she spends time thinking about the "later". But the films is more than the slowly unraveling, dawdling nothing narratives of the current times. MFM provides an underrepresented take on what it means to be black in today's society. Barry Jenkins' film works as a strong exploration of two young souls growing to understand and battle with each others views against a gorgeous urban back drop.
Barry Jenkins visual style is arresting as he favors these close intimate shots with the main characters. Somehow he trades from this intimacy to these epic shots of San Fran giving the film its meditative scope. Also, his purposeful shallow focus aesthetic builds upon the subject matter beautifully as the Micah and Jo attempt delve deeper into their relationship and the sometimes superficiality of society. Some may be turned off by the pervasive aesthetic,calling it heavyhanded, but it creates a unique visual voice for the film that I feel Jenkins and James Lipton (D.P.) capture brilliantly.
The visual style is supported, by the overall feel Jenkins creates. The moments aren't rushed; he allows the conflicts to develop and fester without cutting the scene. At the same time, Micah and Jo are given these moments in which they feel like kids in a playground examining life. Jenkins is successful in creating a frozen moment in time in which neither tomorrow or yesterday exist. Every scene holds together supporting this tryst in which these characters anger, discuss, challenge, and love each other.
I can emphatically suggest this movie for whatever means you use to watch movies. It plays extremely calm and smooth. It just feels good like a glass of juice in the morning.
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