Gugu Mbatha-Raw Returns to Romantic Role in Netflix's Easy

Anthology series Easy premieres on Netflix September 22. Joe Swanberg's first serial project chronicles citizens of Chicago in and out of love. The most exciting feature about the show is that Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars as apart of an ensemble cast. Mbatha-Raw's last project was this year's Free State of Jones and this series is  drastically different from her role as slave Rachel. The starlet hasn't starred in a romance since 2014's Beyond the Lights.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

This romantic comedy, that acts as stand alone yet intertwined "films", finds Gugu's character paired with quirky- indie-romcom heartthrob Jake Johnson. Johnson previously starred in Swanberg's Drinking Buddies. We can only pray the creator and director delivers similar magic with an independent feel, great chemistry between actors and compelling narratives that don't seem to complete themselves. Up and coming actresses Kiersey Clemmons (Dope)  and Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) also star.

Zazie Beetz and Dave Franco in a still from Easy.

Kiersey Clemmons and Jacqueline Toboni in a still from Easy. 

Easy will surely give us some depictions of black love but to what extent is still to be determined. Tell us if you will be binging tomorrow or saving it for a rainy day in the comments.

Here is the trailer. Gugu only appears for a brief moment but she is adorable nonetheless.

I will be live-tweeting Easy tomorrow. Follow me on twitter @unicorninkk to get my spoiler free commentary with the hashtags #Reelartsy #Easy.




H.R Belser is a freelance writer and quirk aficionado. Narratives about love and comedy are her favorites but she longs to see racial diversity in all media. If you are looking for her, she is currently working on her first web series or tweeting a zinger. Follow her on twitter @unicorinkk.

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Beyond The Lights (2014)

This movie rocked me to the core. The mood, tone, cinematography and storyline offer a staggering tale of heart-warming love.

Beyond the Lights plays like a post-rock song... Quiet, loud, quiet, loud. Each emotionally charged scene pulls our heart strings with a skilled subtle dynamic that swells with a satisfying ethereal finale. Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker were the instruments, they played their roles with pitch-perfect vulnerability making Noni and Kaz people you wanted to cheer for, complicated, flawed, but beautiful together. I got teary-eyed when Noni sang the second rendition of  "Blackbird." She had me bleeding for her when she stood in the driveway asking Kaz to "see" and love her. Witnessing the transformation of her fragile soul bloom was a quiet explosion in the sky. A brilliant firework. Nate Parker made Kaz suave and sexy; genuine and down-right-decent.

How often do you get to see two people fall in love over sweet potatoes in the car? Not everyone will get the power of that visual. But I ate it up.

I loved the fact that Noni was biracial, and British, and that element, those layers, are something I've wanted to see portrayed on the big screen.

I knew when I finished Beyond The Lights, that I had to see it again, and I did the next day, and then the next day after that. Why? Because Gina Prince-Bythewood directed the type of film that I've always wanted to see. As a movie blogger you wait in eager expectation for the kind of film that makes you fall in love with movies all over again. Beyond the Lights is that film for me. It happens every once in a while, 500 Days of Summer, Blue Valentine, Medicine for Melancholy, Once, Never Let Me Go, I Will Follow (to name a few). And it's a splendid slice of filmmaking when it does.

This movie is special to me, and I can only hope that it becomes special to you. And that, my dear readers, is the beauty of movie magic.

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Trailer - Beyond the Lights

The trailer for Beyond the Lights offers a slice of everything I want to see happening in black film. Awesome female director. Check. Talented young leads. Check. Clips that ooze emotion in an artistic and stylishly beautiful way. Check. It's quite possible I may have found my new favorite movie. Yes, more, and please.

In theaters November 14th.




Official Sites: IMDb / Facebook

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