“Elegance Bratton autobiographical journey”

The Inspection – Elegance Bratton – 2023

This was truly a heart wrenching and sad film about trying to succeed in a system that is and would cast him aside in a second.

We follow the protagonist ‘Ellis French’ played by the charismatic Jeremy Pope, a young gay, black homeless man rejected by his own mother played by the outstanding Gabrielle Union due to his sexuality (you can put the clue together). He decides enough is enough and wants to join the Marines, where he his beasted into literally an inch of life due to the extreme measures taken to become a Marine but also due to his sexuality.

The film is shot beautifully and explores not only homophobia within the core but also the racial abuse that followed 9/11 towards Muslim people who tried to join the army. With the film being in set in the 2000’s we see the difference in views and how out rightly he was targeted because of this, even having homophobic slurs shouted at him.

The film really does make you feel uncomfortable on purpose to highlight the horror and abuse he received during these times.

The moment that stuck with me the most is at his graduation when his mum finally shows up and you see the joy in her face. When at the dinner table she suggests that there will be a line of girls waiting for him, he re-iterates about his sexuality. We see a character snap resorting to the previous character we see (Horrible and distant), she tried to out him to the rest of his corp however they all finally stand up for him. This was such a dampening moment as you feel that everything is going right for him and the one person he wanted to impress is still holding this against him.

I highly recommend this film to everyone

8/10 🍿