Set among the streets, parks, and apartments of Harlem, 17-year-old Ayanna (Zora Howard, who co-wrote the movie with director Rashaad Ernest Green) has hopes and dreams. But they all hit a sizeable bump in the road when she meets and falls for Isaiah (Joshua Boone).

The romance of Premature starts typical—even hewing toward ’90s Cinemax after dark—but when Ayanna learns an unsavory truth about Isaiah, their soft-focus love turns harsh, raw, and cold. How quickly the sheen of love can be stripped clean.

But Premature’s best moments come not from the relationship of Ayanna and Isaiah but of Ayanna and her friends—a rowdy group who talk too loud, drink too much, and party too hard. As the movie’s signature song suggests: We were too young to act so old. Premature is honest and true, and between Howard and Green, it creates hope for future collaborations.

Premature (2019)
Directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green
Written by Rashaad Ernesto Green, Zora Howard
Produced by Darren Dean, Joy Ganes, Rashaad Ernesto Green
Starring: Zora Howard, Joshua Boone, Michelle Wilson, Alexis Marie Wint, Imani Lewis, Tashiana Washington
IFC Films, Not rated, Running time 90 minutes, Premiered Jan. 26, 2019 at the Sundance Film Festival

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The above blurb first appeared in the pages of Boulder Weekly Vol. 27, No. 12, “Life is no way to treat an animal.”