Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

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David L "Precious" is a very unique elevated black urban grit with a lot of uneven storytelling. Its portrayal of poverty, abuse, and illiteracy in the life of Precious Jones, does highlight its poetic language and ability to inspire empathy. However the graphic content, particularly the descriptions of incest and sexual abuse, is too disturbing and overwhelming. Most of the issues with this movie stems from the writing and the direction from Lee Daniels who isn't a very good director and especially of material like this where you get what he's kinda going for in some of these instances but a lot of this movie feels like tonally it's all over the place. You can see his indulgence in the fantasy sequences doesn't always work, it's pretty much a mess from the writing and filmmaking side and even in the last third or so the momentum really slows down and the pacing I found to be very off throughout the entire movie but I think what really sells this film is the performances. The cast is really good and the one thing that is at the high mark is Gabourey Sidibe, it's so amazing that this performance is a debut that someone with no acting experience would be able to create such a compelling performance. Mo'Nique really convinces you that she's selfish hateful mother and makes you feel for her in the last act. The ensemble helps to lift the material of this movie in a lot of places that the storytelling and the filmmaking isn't doing a great job at that. There are enough elements that you can appreciate what the movie going for but the execution is very sloppy at times and that is unfortunate. The biggest issues come down to some of the editing choices from Joe Klotz like there's one in particular where Mary charges at Precious up the stairs after she's yelling at her and screaming for no reason and Precious kicks her shoe off at her but it doesn't even hit her or anything and chases her up the stairs to beat her and then it cuts to black and cuts to the living room the sounds of her screaming and the needle drop of the song "Was That All It Was" by Jean Carne. That is a weird choice Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/10/25 Full Review Regan W I expected to absolutely love this movie, and I almost always agree with the critics’ reviews, but this isn’t a 97% movie, it’s a 77% like the audience reviews say. It’s the classic problem of telling instead of showing. The acting is amazing, but as a person who has been an eyewitness and a counselor’s ear to life’s horrors, this film does not adequately present the cruelty and audacity of child abuse. When Mo’Nique gives her speech near the end of the film, that was the closest it got to a real glimpse into what horrific childhood abuse can be. Without any visual history of the past abuse, Precious shows us a resigned and wrecked teenager, but not how she got there. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/11/25 Full Review Chris T Absolute knife to the heart 🔪 ❤️ While it isn't perfect, with documentary style camera work and an uneven soundtrack, it's easily one of the best films I've ever seen set in 1980s NYC. The screenplay and acting are 11/10 unbelievably, unequivocally fantastic. Unless you are totally checked out, jaded beyond belief, or have some kind of empathy disability, you will be utterly destroyed by this film. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/25/25 Full Review john w Although very difficult to watch at times , the performances and message is more than worth it Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/08/24 Full Review Fer S Good movie, but not great. I was expecting something darker, I felt it was kind of light. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/17/24 Full Review alan g Hard hitting and grim. Uncomfortable to watch at times but ultimately redeeming. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/18/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

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