A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy in this pulpy mystery caper.
Review:
They Cloned Tyrone is a wanna be Jordan Peele film.
The Glen neighborhood here is a future dystopia where every conspiracy theory is treated as truth and old drunks are treated as prophets and sages. It’s an urban ghetto, mostly black, where whatever gets you by, illegal or legal, is the right thing.
It’s no surprise that a drug dealer and prostitute are it’s main character and heroes. Both Fontaine (John Boyega), the drug dealer and the sex worker (Teyonah Parris) have hearts of gold under their rough exteriors. Fontaine takes care of his ill but never seen mom. He may also be a clone, since he was murdered and now walking around to the surprise of everyone in the Glen unharmed.
The search for Fontaine’s true self and real identity is what spurs the murder mystery plot of They Cloned Tyrone. The Jordan Peele reveal— outside white forces are undermining the Glen folks rendering them slaves to capitalistic subliminal messages in their food, churches and their beauty products. Their only choices: assimilation or annihilation.
Tyrone lives off its performances, as actors try to raise their characters above black stereotypes. The sci-fi plot constantly sinks their efforts. It exists in the entirely familiar, never moving beyond its blackploitation flick influences. It makes They Cloned Tyrone just another fading copy of a copy. Jordan Peele need not worry.
They Cloned Tyrone gets a 3.0 out of 5 or a B.
Credits:
Directed by
Juel Taylor
Written by
- Tony Rettenmaier
- Juel Taylor
Produced by
- Charles D. King
- Stephen “Dr.” Love
- Tony Rettenmaier
- Juel Taylor
- Datari Turner
Starring
- John Boyega
- Teyonah Parris
- Jamie Foxx
Cinematography
Ken Seng
Edited by
Saira Haider
Music by
- Desmond Murray
- Pierre Charles
Production
company
MACRO Media
Distributed by
Release dates
- June 14, 2023(ABFF)
- July 21, 2023(Netflix)
Running time
119 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
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