Nappily Ever After

Name: Nappily Ever After
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Released: September 21, 2018
Duration: 98 min
Rating: 63
Cast: Brittany S. Hall, Camille Guaty, Catherine Dyer, Daria Johns, Ernie Hudson

2018

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Ratings

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4.4

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4.4	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Ratings

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Nappily Ever After

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Movie Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date: September 21, 2018 | TV-MA

Starring: Brittany S. Hall, Camille Guaty, Catherine Dyer, Daria Johns, Ernie Hudson, George Lott, Jen Harper, Kiley Casciano, Lynn Whitfield, Lyriq Bent, Racquel Bianca John, Ricky Whittle, Sanaa Lathan, Terry Serpico, Tracey Bonner

Summary: Violet Jones (Sanaa Lathan) has a seemingly flawless life – a great job, a handsome doctor boyfriend, and a meticulously maintained perfect coiffure. But after an accident at the hair-dresser, each of these things start to unravel, and Violet begins to realize that she was living the life she thought she was supposed to live, not the oneViolet Jones (Sanaa Lathan) has a seemingly flawless life – a great job, a handsome doctor boyfriend, and a meticulously maintained perfect coiffure. But after an accident at the hair-dresser, each of these things start to unravel, and Violet begins to realize that she was living the life she thought she was supposed to live, not the one that she really wanted. [Netflix]… Expand

Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Romance

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 98 min

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Critic Reviews

RogerEbert.com Sheila O'Malley

Sep 21, 2018

Nappily Ever After is as much a polemic as it is anything else. In a confrontation with Clint, Violet says she is sick of how much brainspace is taken up with her hair. "It's like having a second full-time job," she exclaims, exhausted. Read full review

Inkoo Kang

Sep 27, 2018

Al-Mansour is both a natural and highly imperfect pick to adapt Trisha R. Thomas’ novel. Read full review

Robyn Bahr

Sep 30, 2018

Nappily Ever After is simple and imperfect, but also so colorful and joyous you'll give the electric razor a double-take the next time you're in the bathroom. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Sep 21, 2018

Like Vi, a woman accused of “never taking chances,” Nappily Ever After never takes a chance, rarely exerts itself for a laugh or a moment of heart. Al-Mansour (“Mary Shelley”) plays it safe. We get the message. What we don’t get is “entertained.” Read full review

Angelica Jade Bastien

Sep 24, 2018

Unfortunately, instead of coming across as a warm throwback, Nappily Ever After is a romantic comedy saddled with a reductive understanding of black womanhood without enough cast chemistry or beauty to distract us. Read full review

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User Reviews

ADanielle

Sep 24, 2018

Girl meets boy. Boy is successful. On his way to the top. Girl recognizes his potential. And has her own. Girl is perfect, perhaps too much so. Boy is bored. Boy won’t marry girl. Girl shaves her head and sends a giant ‘f you’ to all the conventions of perfectionism. Her job and her mother’sGirl meets boy. Boy is successful. On his way to the top. Girl recognizes his potential. And has her own. Girl is perfect, perhaps too much so. Boy is bored. Boy won’t marry girl. Girl shaves her head and sends a giant ‘f you’ to all the conventions of perfectionism. Her job and her mother’s views get thrown out with the dishwater. Nappily Ever After had more potential than the director might have realized. It lightly broached topics related to the shaping of a black woman’s identity, misguided vapid relationships, and navigating life’s harsh and sometimes unattainable expectations. But that’s all it did. It broached the topic. And the 98-minute runtime does just what it promises – it falls short of 100%. These topics could have been fleshed out beautifully. Like the juxtaposition of the lead’s preoccupation with false imagery and its parallel that is matched in her carefully pressed mane. The harshness of manner that she exhibits and how this coincides with the hot plates altering her natural hair and otherwise natural state of being. And parts of it just didn’t make sense. Like, if she’s been with this guy for two years, is it realistic that she can get up, do her makeup, have her mother flatten her hair and return to bed on a cotton pillowcase and appear flawlessly perched for morning sex? And that in those two years, she still must fight her man during coitus to avoid having his hands run through and possibly ruin her freshly laid frontal? But how?

I would have loved to see a more challenged yet triumphant resolution to themes that seemed to tiptoe into the entangled web that is black masculinity. I would have loved to dive into this single father’s soul and enjoy the marriage of his self-assuredness model a wonderful foil to the lead’s self-aggrandizement. This film tries to do just that, but is quickly met with angry walk-offs and an ending that leaves the watcher questioning if there was really a relationship there in the first place. Waiting for part 2…… Expand

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