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Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Charles Parnell, Sahra Mellesse ... see more see more... , Kim Wayans , Stephanie Andujar , Nina Daniels , Shamika Cotton

Adepero Oduye portrays Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur (Kim Wayans and Charles Parnell) and younger sister Sharonda (Sa... read more read more...hra Mellesse) in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the sometimes boisterous support of her best friend, out lesbian Laura (Pernell Walker), Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. At home, her parents' marriage is strained and there is further tension in the household whenever Alike's development becomes a topic of discussion. Pressed by her mother into making the acquaintance of a colleague's daughter, Bina (Aasha Davis), Alike finds Bina to be unexpectedly refreshing to socialize with. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity - sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward. -- (C) Official Site

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101 critics

R, 1 hr. 27 min.

Directed by: Dee Rees

Release Date: December 28, 2011

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DVD Release Date: April 24, 2012

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Flixster Reviews (363)

  • danperry17
    November 20, 2012
    danperry17
    Gritty portrayal of coming out as a teenager - about finding yourself, whatever that takes, and about the number of ways that the vulnerability that comes along with sexual self-discovery will be exploited by others. There was some over-acting and some bad poetry, and the budget ... read moreis too obviously small, but more than similar films, Pariah puts the threats to its main character in the forefront by showing all kinds of different relationships and what power over this teen could mean for the manipulator. Not a perfect film, but a raw and striking one with a standout performance by Adepero Oduye. Take a chance on it, it's well-worth seeing.
  • dunmyer
    January 2, 2012
    dunmyer
    "Pariah," from first-time writer/director Dee Rees, doesn't break much artistic ground. It tells the same gay/lesbian coming-out story that we've seen a million times. But it's told particularly well and from within a black urban context, which I don't believe has been done befor... read moree.

    It also goes a bit deeper into the hearts and minds of the homophobic parents than typically is done, which was great. Unfortunately, it only scratches those surfaces. Kim Wayans, who of course has a long history in comedy, shows she has major dramatic talent, playing the homophobic mother of the main character. The cast is universally good, but Wayans is the stand-out.

    The main character is a black teenage girl in Brooklyn going through the coming-out process. She has fully come out to herself as a lesbian, and she has even found her way into a lesbian circle of friends. She even frequents a women's night club. But she hasn't told Mom or Dad about any of this, both of whom are homophobic. Mom is particularly venomous in her hatred of gays and lesbians. You can see that Dad, a detective in the NYPD, in his heart of hearts is not a bigot.

    Thrown into the mix to complicate things a little bit is a bisexual girl eager to have lesbian experiences to explore herself. But she tosses lesbians aside like useless candy wrappers after she's had her fun.

    If I were going to give Dee Rees advice, I would say this:

    Ms. Rees, in "Pariah" you started digging into the parent characters with some real psychological and artistic depth. I encourage you to go more deeply in that direction. I think your true gifts as an artist lie there. I would give anything to see a sequel where you explore what happened to that mother and what she's really fighting. You hint that her husband is beginning to stray, but I think there's more in there. Help us see it.

    Remember when that great schoolteacher tells Alike that she could "go deeper" with her poetry? You could go deeper with your films. I know you could.
  • 366weirdmovies
    November 21, 2011
    366weirdmovies
    A lesbian teenager in Brooklyn leads an uncomfortable double life, trying to hide her lifestyle from her conservative parents while struggling to find a suitable partner for her first sexual relationship. Excellent acting salvages a well-intentioned but familiar script that occa... read moresionally drags.
  • gator681
    February 25, 2012
    gator681
    "Pariah" opens with 17-year old Alike(Adepero Oduye) using a fake ID to get into a women's nightclub where she hangs out with her friend Laura(Pernell Walker). When Laura tries to hook her up with another woman, Alike drags her out of there. Alike's being out past her curfew wo... read moreuld not be a problem if her younger sister Sharonda(Sahra Mellesse) did not do her sisterly duty to rat her out to their mother(Kim Wayans). In fact, she blames her nocturnal activity entirely on Laura, who is working on her GED, and wants Alike to make more socially acceptable friends like Bina(Aasha Davis) who she introduces to her at church.

    Even though writer-director Dee Rees shows a lot of promise with her first feature "Pariah," it is also much too rough to fully pass muster with subplots going off in all directions and not enough experience to tie it all together. Alike is not only lesbian but also coming to terms with her gender identity, as she always appears to be changing clothes to and from home. That's not to mention the Misadventure of the Amazing Strap-On. Maybe in 1994, this all might have seemed fresh and enough to go on but not so much now. While many elements might ring true, others come off as cliche, such as Alike's poetry, and others just feel false. For example, no mother, much less a churchgoing one, would buy clothing for her teenage daughter that would 'accentuate her figure.' Feminine might be the word you are looking for.
  • fb720603734
    November 13, 2011
    fb720603734
    There has been much reductive talk about how PARIAH is PRECIOUS 2011. While they both deal with a protagonist trying to break free of her stifling family situation, PARIAH is much more gentle in tone and tells the tale of a young, tomboy lesbian navigating her way through life. ... read more Adepero Oduye has such charm as Alike, a smart high school student who doesn't quite know what to do with herself yet. Kim Wayans, who has excelled in comedy in the past, is striking and vivid as her less-than-supportive mother, while Charles Parnell is charming and wonderful as her father. Pernell Walker plays a character you don't get to see often in film, the butch lesbian friend, while Aasha Davis has the impossible role of a friend who turns into a love interest, and then has a strange, out-of-left-field turn. She charms despite the odd transition.

    I found myself caring very much for this cast of characters, mainly because of the refreshingly articulate way they expressed themselves. It's a breath of fresh air to see a so-called "urban" (hate that term) drama where the people in it seem to care about music, books, and each other.

    If I had a complaint, it would be about the cinematography. Although there are beautiful images to be had here, the hand-held work felt annoying at times. Sometimes stillness, especially with a main character who lives so well in it, is the right way to go.

    That aside, this could be the sleeper hit of 2011. A film with a beating heart and soul.
  • fb721890245
    April 10, 2013
    fb721890245
    Pariah is a good solid drama outlining the trials and tribulations of a teenager who is coming out within an unaccepting black family. Tender at times and shocking, it has a tremendous deal of freshness to it.
  • crossbladezero
    September 16, 2012
    crossbladezero
    It's about a black lesbian trying to fit in, so of course Spike Lee is, at the very least, producing. With subject matter like this, either Spike Lee was gonna be attached or Tyler Perry, though either way, the point is that this film is evidently worthy of ending up in the hands... read more of some major black filmmaker, though thankfully not directorial hands, because while Lee is definately a better director than Perry (Those are some ironically quite white last names), he's not too much more subtle. Really, I'm surprised Lee didn't at least pull a Steve Spielberg in "Poltergeist" type deal where he pushes Dee Rees out of the way and directs this thing himself, not just because it's his kind of subject matter, but because this film is perhaps too short. Granted, I don't quite want it to be the two-hour or two-and-a-half-hour epic portrait on black lesbians that Lee probably would have made it, but maybe this film could have stuck around a little bit longer, though I might just be saying that because I like this film quite a bit. It's certainly, or at least apparently the best film with a Wayans sibling attached that in a while, so I guess I may as well take what I can get. I say apparently, rather than certainly, because the term "certainly" insinuates that I've actually seen something with a Wayans sibling in a while. No, now that I think about it, I'm switching back to certainly, because I'm hearing that the Wayans siblings haven't really been knocking things out in recent years, and because this film certainly raises quite the standard, though not exactly one that reaches too considerably high, for although this film is a good one, its briefness isn't exactly its only problem.

    Okay, first off, if I could just go ahead and throw this out there: the soundtrack is absolutely horrible! There, now that I've gotten that out of the way and ensured myself an easy sleep tonight, the film is a very down-to-earth one, with carefully structured realism and a naturalistic atmosphere, which is great and all, except for the fact that real life is a bit boring, - even when it deals with situations as potent as the ones tackled in this film - or at least not exactly built to be a case of beginning, middle and end, thus this film is left with little narrative structure, as well as with little refreshingly cinematic spark to its realist actions, characterization and dialogue, and is left realistically limping along with little feel for progression, due to its being realistic to fault and to the point of being a bit bland. I suppose you get used to this structure reasonably quickly, and just enough to stick with the film, yet the fact of the matter is that the film gets to be a bit blandly carried away with its realism, leaving plot to suffer, though not as much as pacing, which further goes hurt by the film's being slow to begin with. Now, the film isn't necessarily dull, yet its atmosphere is dry and its pacing is steady to the point of being supplementary to the blandness that goes spawned from the film's over-realism, while additional damage to the pacing comes from repetition, because whether it be the film's keeping faithful to the reality of routine or just lazy writing, the film sometimes finds itself treading in circles. Still, with all of its repetition and limping along, one of the biggest problems with this film is its simply being just plain too short, clocking in at under 90 minutes and not taking quite enough time to fully flesh out its story and characters, let alone sell them firmly enough for the film to leave you with all that much of a thorough impression. As I'll touch upon later, what this film does do right with the limited time it has is sharply effective enough for the final product to leave an impression, yet even with that, this film still feels a bit too short, sweet and to the point, not quite putting enough time or effort into exposition, much less compensation for the film's plummets into blandness on the wings of slowness, limited narrative focus and altogether being realist to a fault, thus leaving the final product to run the risk of collapsing into underwhelmingness. Of course, that just makes this film's keeping consistent with its being engaging all the more impressive, for although the film and its methods are flawed, this film does more than enough with very little to satisfy, which is what you can say about the restrained yet rewarding work of cinematographer Bradford Young.

    Being very much an independent project, the film finds its technical and artistic sharpness tainted by funds limitations, yet with what he has to work with, Bradford Young delivers on lovely photography, drawing from the picture much detail and definition, complimented by a beautifully bleak lighting and colorizing that, when emphasized at just the right moment, makes for some gorgeously gritty shots, which break up a consistent degree of handsomeness that can be found within the cinematography throughout the film. Young's photography reflects and supplements the effectiveness of the film's grimy thematic depths in a fashion that is both aesthetically and emotionally attractive, which helps the film in sustaining your attention, while Dee Rees secures your investment through her screenplay, alone, particularly when it comes to the very realism that also hurts this film. As I said, the film gets to be a bit lost in its time down to earth, where too much realism leaves blandness to set in and little in the way of narrative structure to rise, and in a situation like that, - where you're film is left a bit bland and with very little actual plot - you're going to need the compensation that this film provides, whether it be near-snapily clever yet down-to-earth dialogue, or simply the intrigue in beholding how much this script goes graced by much thorough attention to detail and authenticity, of which, there is enough for this film to back up its thematic intentions. The film is a portrait on the youth's pursuit for embracement of his or her inner being and true identity, or in this case, the very contemporaneously relevant story of a teenaged girl's struggles as an outgoing yet still afraid lesbian, and such a topic can be and has been portrayed with far too much broadness and simplification, and even as something of a gimmick, being that it is so contemporaneously relevant, yet this film transcends past those potential missteps and stands as effective in its portrayal of these worthy themes, being audaciously authentic, but restrained to where it's not so much bearing down on you with message, as much as it's simply telling an engrossing and provocative story. Dee Rees nearly undercuts her accomplishments with more than a few missteps that reflect her limited experience in filmmaking, yet the point is that she does make her share of accomplishments, and plenty of them, not just as writer, but as director, as she subtly but surely places her heart into this project, and forges the compelling characterization and engrossing emotional resonance that define this film as a moving and thought-provoking drama, which wouldn't be as effective as it is without the inspiration in both Dee Rees' efforts and certain performances. Kim Wayans isn't given much to do until the final act of the film, but when material does finally arrive, she delivers on unexpectedly potent emotional range and steals the show, while leading lady Adepero Oduye firmly owns the show, planting subtle yet striking emotion and depth into her very human and rather layered presence, to where she bonds with the Alike character and delivers an engaging lead performance that may not be written to have quite as much material as you would expect it to, but still helps in making this breakout for Oduye a promising one. The film stands to be stronger, and there's no getting around that, as the film's faults do indeed do some damage to be a seemingly light as they are, yet what we're ultimately with as a final product is a film that transcends its missteps and stands a consistently engaging, with moments in which truly resonantes, until it is ultimately left standing as worthwhile.

    In conclusion, the film's over-attention to realism leaves narrative structure to take quite a bit of damage, sometimes almost to the point of dissipating, thus creating a kind of blandness, which goes intensified by slowness that is, in and of itself, intensified by repetition that pads this film out, though not quite far enough, as the final product comes out too short to flesh things out as much as it should, yet ultimately compensates for that through striking and tonally supplementary cinematography by Bradford Young, as well as by inspired and generally intriguingly authentic writing by Dee Rees, whose just as inspired directorial execution provides emotional resonance, amplified by the engrossing lead performance by Adepero Oduye that helps in making Dee Rees' "Pariah" a compelling and satisfying study on self-embracement in the face of uncertainty.

    3/5 - Good
  • chihoe
    September 1, 2012
    chihoe
    Heartbreak is the one word to describe the experience while watching "Pariah". Adepero Oduye gives a very compelling performance filled with vigor and vulnerability as a teenager embracing her sexuality steadily and stoically as her parents begin to give her grief about it. There... read more is this rawness and poignancy to the film, and with its good use of concise dialogue, heartfelt poetry, and a dose of urban youth culture, "Pariah" elevates the gay coming-of-age story to a whole new level.
  • fb1025970122
    May 2, 2012
    fb1025970122
    With an almost poetic quality about it, Dee Rees' coming of age story "Pariah" is a brief and engaging short story. No matter the stance you take on the issue of homosexuality, while the film is obviously not against it, the movie is also smart to not just explain why someone mig... read moreht be gay, but instead simply gives a glimpse. A glimpse in terms of what it feels like to deal with the emotions of knowing you are not as everyone else is or how others expect you to be. It is a slightly vulgar film that does not shy away from the truths about gay relationships. It would still be awkward to watch if this were a man and woman relationship, the fact that its about a lesbian seems to make the movie feel like it actually has bigger balls (no joke intended). The story follows Alike, portrayed by a wonderful Adepero Oduye as she struggles to lead a double life. She wants to be like her friend Laura who is open about her homosexuality and free to live as she wishes (though there is certainly turmoil within her as well) but Alike is slow to embrace this truth about herself and finds it ever harder to tell her parents. There are issues within the household and there are different avenues explored by all parties cooperating in the film, but what it boils down to is a raw honest look at the journey one had to take to feel confident in herself. This is not a place for personal opinion, but despite feeling put off at times by the way in which the main character acted towards those who care about her I was also surprised that in the resolution how they reacted to her. Clearly this is a personal story for the writer/director, but it is only one side of a story and the film would have done well to be more fleshed out. But for a personal take, it accomplishes its goals and more importantly, gets its point across.
  • SunilJawahir
    June 10, 2012
    SunilJawahir
    Just amazing. One of the best films of 2011.

View All Pariah Reviews

Critic Reviews

John Anderson
February 17, 2012
John Anderson, Newsday

The gay coming-of-age story's been done, but "Pariah" has something fresh to say, largely about the knotty complexities of love, and how they might keep someone in the closet: How badly do you need to... Full Review

Colin Covert
January 22, 2012
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Rees brings a heartfelt connection to the material, based on her own coming-out story, but the film's ingredients aren't the freshest. Full Review

Tom Long
January 20, 2012
Tom Long, Detroit News

You don't have to be black or lesbian or even know someone who's gay to appreciate "Pariah"; you just have to have gone through or be going through the process of growing up. Full Review

Rick Groen
January 13, 2012
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

If the destination is trite, the journey isn't - it comes with an ample supply of raw honesty. Full Review

Carrie Rickey
January 12, 2012
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

Rees tells Alike's story in vignettes that are sometimes slapstick, sometimes heartbreaking, always tender. Full Review

Bill Goodykoontz
January 12, 2012
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

Especially rewarding about Oduye's performance is how she's able to portray that frustration while retaining hope and optimism. Full Review

Bruce Demara
January 12, 2012
Bruce Demara, Toronto Star

Rees' script, peppered with colourful hip-hop argot, is smart and economical, with well-drawn characters, dialogue and situations that echo with authenticity. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
January 6, 2012
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

"Pariah" feels a lot like life, at its most confusing, contradictory and exhilarating. Full Review

Chris Vognar
January 5, 2012
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News

Adepero Oduye is excellent as a Brooklyn teen coming to terms with her sexual identity in this gritty film Full Review

Joe Morgenstern
January 5, 2012
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

The originality lies in the details, and the dramatic energy that sustains almost every scene. Full Review

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    • Alike: This isn't me.
    • Alike: [reading] Breaking is opening, and I am broken. I am open.
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