Pretty Red Dress (2023), Director Dionne Edwards, BFI, 4.5****: Matthew Alicoon

Pretty Red Dress

BFI

Running Time: 110 Minutes

Release Date: Friday 16th June

Pretty Red Dress follows Travis (Natey Jones) who has just been released from prison and he is reunited with his wife Candice (Alexandra Burke) and daughter Kenisha (Temilola Olatunbosun). Travis struggles to readjust back into societal normality, Candice is an aspiring musical actress and Kenisha is caught in between the family conflicts that arise.

The film brilliantly accomplishes the task of handling the key themes with a sensitive viewpoint, as there are elegantly portrayed themes of rediscovering oneself, finding out your true identity and expressing yourself. When the red dress is purchased, the redness carries richly evoking symbolism for this family in both positive and negative viewpoints, as the film has a tremendous demonstration of fight through Candice wanting to be cast in the lead role of a new musical, however the aggression is shown through Travis in a nuanced way. Travis is a character who is seen to lack assertiveness since coming out of prison, other characters make him aware for his lack of strength due to a particular event which occurs. Where the film excels though is how it portrays the event with Travis, as you may initially think is this person acting slightly abnormal but the tone remains succinct where actually Travis has a finite level of empathy and sadness. The film paints the perfect picture of someone not feeling confident within society and civilisations norms. Pretty Red Dress jarringly has the guts to demonstrate the backlash of when someone uses the derogatory phrase "Man Up" without actually saying it. The disintegrating impact on Travis is extreme but wonderfully fleshed out. 

Natey Jones captures the inner conflict of trying to be a different person around people fascinatingly. It is a challenging performance but Jones nails the mannerisms superbly. The film perfectly plays on Alexandra Burke's acting and musical strengths, as Candice is auditioning for Tina Turner and the red dress transforms her into Tina Turner. At home, Burke is quite commanding in conveying her anger but shows a continuously loving and caring side to her character. Temilola Olatunbosun gives a splendidly ambivalent performance, as Kenisha is struggling with certain decisions in her life and is arguably not in concurrence with her mother on numerous issues such as who she is allowed to date. 

Dionne Edwards throws away any form of gimmickry certain scenarios would have had years ago, to make an incredibly accomplished feature film debut. It will be intriguing to see what Dionne Edwards tackles next and how she portrays it on screen. There is a magnificent balance of energy and tenderness at the core of this drama.

Pretty Red Dress is unbelievably thought-provoking, a fully reformed conversation piece but most importantly a film that tackles its subject matters through a realistic and truthful lens. A real gem of the year.

Cast

Natey Jones as Travis

Alexandra Burke as Candice

Temilola Olatunbosun as Kenisha

Edwin De La Renta as Fletcher