Blindspotting (2021)

Matt Roush says...

The cult 2018 film starring and written by Hamilton’s Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal becomes a weekly series, still true to its urban Oakland, CA roots but shifting the focus to Ashley (the fine Jasmine Cephas Jones), who’s putting her life back together after her long-time boyfriend and baby daddy Miles (Casal) is arrested on New Year’s Eve 2018, several months after the film’s storyline ended. The series misses the kinetic energy of Diggs (whose character is mentioned as having moved to Montana) and Casal (who recurs), but Jones holds the show together with a mix of indignation and vulnerability as she moves in with Miles’ harried but supportive mom, Rainey (Helen Hunt), and his sex-working firebrand half-sister Trish (Jaylen Barron), who’s not an Ashley fan. As Ashley raises her son Sean (Atticus Woodward) in this chaotic environment, she and Trish will work each other’s emotional and cultural blind spots to learn how to co-exist without killing each other.

What's Worth Watching (Jun 12)