X
  • 2020
  • Unrated
  • 1 h 30 m
  • 2020
  • Unrated
  • 1 h 30 m

Summary On a summer night in Harlem during her last months at home before starting college, seventeen-year-old poet Ayanna (Zora Howard) meets Isaiah (Joshua Boone), a charming music producer who has just moved to the city. It’s not long before these two artistic souls are drawn together in a passionate summer romance. But as the highs of young ...

Directed By: Rashaad Ernesto Green

Written By: Zora Howard, Rashaad Ernesto Green

  • 2020
  • Unrated
  • 1 h 30 m
  • 2020
  • Unrated
  • 1 h 30 m
Premature
Metascore Universal Acclaim Based on 13 Critic Reviews
81
User Score Mixed or Average Based on 7 User Ratings
5.0
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary On a summer night in Harlem during her last months at home before starting college, seventeen-year-old poet Ayanna (Zora Howard) meets Isaiah (Joshua Boone), a charming music producer who has just moved to the city. It’s not long before these two artistic souls are drawn together in a passionate summer romance. But as the highs of young ...

Directed By: Rashaad Ernesto Green

Written By: Zora Howard, Rashaad Ernesto Green

Where to Watch

Top Cast

View All
View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 13 Critic Reviews
81
100% Positive
13 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 13 Critic Reviews
81
100% Positive
13 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
90
Feb 20, 2020
Directed with bristling immediacy by Rashaad Ernesto Green (“Gun Hill Road”), Premature could be classified as a love story, a coming-of-age drama, a cautionary tale (the title offers a clue) and a portrait of young black women and men finding their way in contemporary New York. But it also strikes me as a movie about the uses and occasional uselessness of language, with stop-and-go verbal cadences that seem particularly attentive to what its characters say and don’t say.
By Justin Chang FULL REVIEW
89
Feb 26, 2020
It’s a gorgeous, shattering film. It’s an unapologetically real film about a number of very real subjects, plot-agnostic but driven by character, consequence and compassion.
By Andrew Crump FULL REVIEW
83
Feb 20, 2020
In a movie landscape cluttered with coming of age stories, it’s worth asking what distinguishes a straightforward example such as Premature. Two things do – authenticity and Zora Howard. Howard is a breakout talent and she endows this story with grace and passion.
By Joe Blessing FULL REVIEW
80
Feb 20, 2020
Premature is teen love portrayed in an adult manner. Its grit and realism distinguish it from other teen love stories that force sappy, profound one-liners meant only for a good trailer moment.
By Alan Ng FULL REVIEW
75
Feb 20, 2020
The film’s most telling scene unfortunately marks a steep divide between the fine-tuned first half and a back end that threatens to crumble into cliche.
By Kate Erbland FULL REVIEW
70
Feb 20, 2020
This is an imperfect but stirring drama, by turns sweet, sexy and quietly wrenching.
By Jon Frosch FULL REVIEW
63
Jan 28, 2020
The performances and the milieu, with its colorful colloquial speech and loving if blundering sisterly relationships, is what sells “Premature” and makes it an indie film well worth your time.
By Roger Moore FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 7 User Ratings
5.0
43% Positive
3 Ratings
14% Mixed
1 Rating
43% Negative
3 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 7 User Ratings
5.0
43% Positive
3 Ratings
14% Mixed
1 Rating
43% Negative
3 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

 View All
Production Company Mi Alma Films, Astute Films, Slice Entertainment Group, 3DMC, Relic Pictures
Release Date Feb 21, 2020
Duration 1 h 30 m
Rating Unrated
Genres
Website https://www.facebook.com/prematurefilm/
View All Details

Awards

Montclair Film Festival (MFF)
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF)
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

Related Movies

Citizen Kane

100
Universal Acclaim

Dekalog (1988)

100
Universal Acclaim

Notorious

100
Universal Acclaim

Fanny and Alexander (re-release)

100
Universal Acclaim

The Godfather

100
Universal Acclaim

Three Colors: Red

100
Universal Acclaim

The Leopard (re-release)

100
Universal Acclaim

Tokyo Story

100
Universal Acclaim

Casablanca

100
Universal Acclaim

Lawrence of Arabia (re-release)

100
Universal Acclaim

The Conformist

100
Universal Acclaim

Boyhood

100
Universal Acclaim

Intolerance

99
Universal Acclaim

Touch of Evil

99
Universal Acclaim

The Rules of the Game

99
Universal Acclaim

Army of Shadows

99
Universal Acclaim

City Lights

99
Universal Acclaim

Moonlight

99
Universal Acclaim

Rashomon

98
Universal Acclaim

The Wild Bunch

98
Universal Acclaim

The Passion of Joan of Arc

98
Universal Acclaim

Pépé le Moko (re-release)

98
Universal Acclaim

Related News

Director Roxanne Benjamin Gender-Flips Gaslighting and Parental Tropes in Horror Film 'There's Something Wrong With the Children'

Director Roxanne Benjamin Gender-Flips Gaslighting and Parental Tropes in Horror Film 'There's Something Wrong With the Children'

Danielle Turchiano

'To me, [the film] was more about the idea of family and what it's supposed to look like,' the director tells Metacritic. 'You might have to fight against that continually until you die.'

  • movies
2023 Critics Choice Awards Winners: From 'Better Call Saul' to 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'

2023 Critics Choice Awards Winners: From 'Better Call Saul' to 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'

Danielle Turchiano

Find out who took home trophies at the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards.

  • movies
With 'The Drop,' Director Sarah Adina Smith Has Made Her Most Personal Movie Yet — And in a Genre She Never Expected to Work In

With 'The Drop,' Director Sarah Adina Smith Has Made Her Most Personal Movie Yet — And in a Genre She Never Expected to Work In

Sam Rosenberg

The comedy was born out of a conversation between Smith and her DP husband Shaheen Seth about the female equivalent of the protagonist's bad action in 'Force Majeure.'

  • movies
2023 DGA Awards Theatrical Nominations: From Steven Spielberg to John Patton Ford

2023 DGA Awards Theatrical Nominations: From Steven Spielberg to John Patton Ford

Danielle Turchiano

Find out who was nominated for theatrical film DGA Awards in 2023.

  • movies
2023 SAG Awards Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and 'Ozark' Score Big, 'The White Lotus' Switches Categories

2023 SAG Awards Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and 'Ozark' Score Big, 'The White Lotus' Switches Categories

Danielle Turchiano

Find out which actors from film and television earned Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations at the 29th annual celebration.

  • movies

Overview

Follow Us

Video and Images from IVA & Xperi
Movie title data, credits, and poster art provided by
IMDb logo
© 2023 FANDOM, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Explore Other Brands