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'R#J' Review: Confined to Digital Screens, Romeo and Juliet Update Feels More Like an Experiment Than a Movie
Carey Williams' bold technological gamble finds some contemporary relevance but eschews narrative purpose for its unique setting.
Tomris Laffly, provided by
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Director: Carey Williams
With: Camaron Engels, Sydney Graham, Moe Irvin, RJ Cyler, Siddiq Saunderson, Francesca Noel, Maria Gabriela de Faria, Diego Tinoco, Russell Hornsby.
Running time: Running time: 91 MIN.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
There are instances in director Carey Williams’ boldly experimental yet wearisome “R#J” that genuinely grasp the essence of romance, identity and existence in the age of social media. Those fleeting but relatable moments feel like major triumphs in Williams’ Gen Z-centric adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet,” a movie that unfolds almost entirely on electronic screens. And you get a taste of them enough times to wish for a film that achieves a similar level of insight on the whole, something with purpose that went beyond the contrived quest, “What if we do Shakespeare, but solely in the virtual world?”