Film Review – Beyond the Lights

It takes a special touch to make this type of entertainment work. Audiences have seen romantic melodramas time and again, with most barely putting in the effort to engage on an emotional level, merely content to display love, not feel it. “Beyond the Lights” has considerable flaws, but it manages to find intimacy in a way that feels natural, with such warmth smoothly communicated by leads Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker. Writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood indulges hysterics on occasion, but her mission to bring an organic chemistry to the screen is successful, while also targeting the toxicity of current pop queen standards, aiming to spank the music industry while caressing her characters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com