Last weekend, I had the pleasure of watching this new Netflix Original film called Nappily Ever After.
This film is based on a book of the same name by Trisha R.Thomas, following a young woman named Violet played by Sanaa Lathan, who seems to be living a perfect life while working as an advertising executive, in a relationship with a doctor named Clint, and proudly working her long straightened hair.
But when Violet realizes one evening that her boyfriend has other plans besides proposing to her, she has a mishap at work and an incident at the beauty salon causing her to accidentally cut all her hair off during a drunken night.
She soon realizes that her hair has been keeping her from fully expressing herself as an individual.
Before I get into my review of the movie, I wanted to go through three thoughts I had upon seeing this film.
First, I was surprised to see that this adaption of Thomas’s book was made into a movie instead of a TV show.
Now, I am not saying that this adaption doesn’t work as a film, however, as shown in the trailers, I thought viewers would get to see Violet sporting a new hairstyle every other episode before she found the right one to compliment her personality. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the result.
Second, I was excited to see that Sanaa Lathan was cast as the main character. Every movie she’s played in, whether it’s Love and Basketball or Something New, has made me fall in love with her as an actress.
Lastly, I was excited to see another Netflix Original feature a POC (person of color) character as the main lead. Before I knew this movie was based on a book, I was happy to see that Netflix was continuing to distribute productions consisting of mostly minority characters.
As a young black woman myself, this shows that Hollywood is taking further steps in representation and diversifying roles that are usually given to white actors/actresses.
So, what did I think of Nappily Ever After? Well, I ended up liking the film and found it very empowering as well. As always, Lathan did a convincing job playing a relevant and relatable character who deals with a lot of self-love and self-discovery during the second half of the film.
Honestly, she made me think Violet was a real person towards the end of the movie. Other characters such as Violet’s mom played by Lynn Whitfield and Violet’s friends played by Camille Guaty and Racquel B. John were also convincing in their roles.
I also was not expecting this movie to blend humor with drama. I thought it was going to be a slow-paced movie, but I appreciate the few funny moments that seemed to focus on the struggle Black girls have with their hair since I can relate to a few of those struggles too.
All in all, if you have time on your hands this weekend go check out Nappily Ever After on Netflix. Even if you’re not familiar with Black hair or Black culture, you might find this film entertaining to watch.