William Shakespeare’s
Francesca Noel and Cameron Engels. It’s helmed by a Black filmmaker. And it finds a way to propel a 500-year-old play into the present day. But, fam,
R#J is just not a good movie.
In fact, it’s pretty horrendous and right from the start. Williams immediately drops his audience inside an increasingly confusing vortex where his protagonists, two teenagers in an urban neighborhood, exist in today’s world but speak in iambic pentameter, the English poetry style made famous by Shakespeare.
Cameron Engels and Francesca Noel in R#J
To be doubly clear, they say things like “Where art thou” and “Ye,” and not in jest. This is just how they talk. Intellectual audiences might assume in the beginning that the two are simply boning up on their British literature or practicing for a recital. Nope, buckle up, this is the entire ride.
2021 Sundance Film Festival Review – R#J
Starring Camaron Engels, Francesca Noel, David Zayas, Diego Tinoco, Siddiq Saunderson, and Russell Hornsby.
SYNOPSIS:
A modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy “Romeo and Juliet.”
A movie adaptation of The Bard’s most popular play for the Instagram set has the obvious potential to be completely insufferable, and yet, Carey Williams’ daring debut harnesses just enough beguiling skill and slipperiness to prove itself worthwhile.
Perhaps every generation gets the
Romeo and Juliet movie they deserve; Baz Luhrman’s 1996 take perfectly captured the edgy gloss of the MTV generation with its staccato editing and marrow-rich colours, while if nothing else, this new take for the social media generation captures modern youth in all of its openness, sensitivity, and yes, narcissism.
Diego Tinoco and Siddiq Saunderson – about social media sequels, Shakespeare and sets. Click here to watch Engels and Saunderson or here to watch Noel and Tinoco!
About The Film: In fair Verona, a war as old as time is brewing between rival houses – but itâs being captured in a new way. Montague (Engels and Saunderson) and Capulet (Noel and Tinoco) Gen Zers are using their cell phones to document the eruptions of violence plaguing their communities. In the middle of it all, Romeo discovers Julietâs artwork at a party, and the two inevitably fall in love. As tensions between their families escalate, the two plead for peace and desperately search for a way to escape their star-crossed destiny.
POPSUGAR chatted with R#J star Diego Tinoco about the dangers of social media, his role as Tybalt, and how he's not so different from On My Block's Cesar.
Camaron Engels and Francesca Noel appear in “R#J” by Carey Williams, an official selection of the NEXT section at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute)
This review contains spoilers.
Reimagined in Carey Williams’ Gen Z inspired “R#J” is the infamous age-old story of star-crossed lovers, Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Set in the modern day, this rendition follows Romeo and Juliet as they fall in love entirely through social media and their smartphone screens.
Straying from the original script, the characters use modern-day slang through text and social media but Shakespearean English in video calls/livestreams. Though a unique selling point at first, after about 15 minutes when social media’s gimmick wears off, the film is left constrained by these tropes.