This review was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist.What is it that we look for in stories? Is it to be entertained? Challenged? Moved? Placated? These are merely some of the many questions that are raised in writer-director Cord Jefferson’s terrific feature debut American Fiction in which the great Jeffrey Wright stars as Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison, a talented and thoughtful author who is struggling to sell his latest book. Though he has published acclaimed work before, there aren’t any publishers that are interested in more from him. Even him attending a writer’s festival in his hometown of Boston is met with an abysmally low turnout.

The reason? A big new author Sintara Golden (Issa Rae) has released a novel and everyone went to go see her instead. After Monk wanders in to hear her read an excerpt from said book and grows visibly disconcerted at how he considers it to be a stereotype-ridden flattening of Black life, he decides to write a similar story of his own under a pseudonym to prove a point. He succeeds at doing so, but not in the way he intended. What he thought would be seen as an exaggerated mockery of such stories is suddenly the most in-demand writing he’s ever done. Even Monk expected too much of those who read it.

Thus begins a revealing journey into the world of publishing, yes, but also into our very psyches as well. This is not a film that is interested in placating or hand-holding as it cuts to the very foundation of what modern America looks like. The commodifying and minimizing of “diverse stories” can come just as fully from those who claim to be elevating these voices when it is really all about patting themselves on the back. There is a wonderfully withering sense of humor in how American Fiction explores this as all of the conversations Monk begins to have around the book he wrote as a joke sees it spiraling out of his control.

There is a humorous wit to Wright’s performance that hardens into bitterness and eventual resignation. It makes for a rich character study that takes time for the small moments of life just as it teases out moments of grand observational humor. The relationships Monk has with his sister Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross) and brother Clifford (Sterling K. Brown) feel fully realized even as they can be fleeting. The performances give life to an entire history that informs all of their exchanges, especially when tragedy strikes and Monk must subsequently find a way to care for his ailing mother Agnes (Leslie Uggams) with the lie offering a possible salvation.

Stories and Their Foundations Are Delicately Skewered in ‘American Fiction’
Image via Orion Pictures

It is these familial pains that give the story not just the impetus to keep going, but the heart to make it all resonate. The reason that Monk carries on with the deception about the book despite his reservations is that he needs the money to try to look out for his mom almost all by himself. All of the Ellison siblings have fallen on hard times and if he can pull one over on these publishers to do some good, why wouldn’t he? This is essentially the case that is made by his friend and agent Arthur (John Ortiz) who still believes in him more than most anyone else in the world. The scenes the two share, making calls to publishers where Monk must carry on with the performance that starts to get more and more outlandish, are among the most humorous in the film.

It is a delicate balance that is struck as there are not just many glorious lines, but also one particular wide shot where we see the posters on the wall of a publisher that elicits the biggest laugh. When Monk grows fed up with the whole thing at one point and attempts to sabotage it by demanding the name of the book be changed to just the word “FUCK,” bemusement turns to utter bafflement that even this is not enough to stop this from going on. While absurd, it is a humor that is grounded in truth about what stories will become elevated. After all, we live in a world where something like the wildly manipulative The Blind Side was lavished with praise despite being one of the worst movies ever made. Why? Because it goes down easy and lets certain audiences go home feeling fully catered to.

RELATED: TIFF 2023: The Movies We’re Looking Forward to Most

All of this is expressed in some great sequences with one where none other than Keith David appears to bring Monk’s writing to life. As the writer types, he chews into each cliché with aplomb before turning to his maker and saying that he can do better than that. For just a moment, it is as if even this fictional character doesn’t want to do this superficial song and dance. Though such moments of imaginative flair aren’t as present in the rest of the film, this is more than okay as everything else draws us deeper into Monk’s life. The supporting players, especially Brown giving another outstanding performance after this year’s Biosphere, are all excellent. Though some of her character is a bit underdeveloped, Erika Alexander as Monk’s neighbor Coraline is a crucial counterbalance to him.

As the two form a relationship, her praise of his books highlights his insecurities and need for validation that can turn into bursts of coldness towards her when she challenges him instead. Monk is a complicated man, full of contradictions that he is now having to confront both personally and professionally, though he is also a deeply human one. The film about the story he’s telling is as much about him as it is about the broader publishing world he is begrudgingly having to deal more and more with.

‘American Fiction’ Is a Story That Is Itself Searching for an Ending
Image via TIFF

As this all gets bigger and bigger, Monk is faced with a choice about how far he will let it go. Without going too far to the end, there are multiple doors that it ends up peering down without fully committing to. Some of this creates a bit of disconnect, but that is very much by design as it is clear that there isn’t a fully happy ending to be found in this story. The Monk who began the film, already a relatable cynic who saw the world’s flaws, has now grown even more understandably disillusioned with it. Though his writing the story was a joke that spoke to a fundamental lack of confidence in the world, it also betrayed the smallest hint of faith that they would understand the charade. By the end, it seems even that spark has faded.

It makes an already somber story even more so as, even amidst all the earned silliness, there is a real sense of loss to it all. There were plenty of people that Monk lost, both through the unexpected agonies of life and some of his own actions, though there is also something even more than that. He gave people more credit than they perhaps deserved and that blew up in his face. This may be a hard pill for him and us to swallow, with one final look that is exchanged with a man near the end hitting this home, though it is a truthful one. Though Monk’s audience may have been looking for a lie, this film does not let them off so easy.

Rating: B+

The Big Picture

American Fiction is a film about a lie of a story that taps into greater truths. Jeffrey Wright is spectacular as a writer who becomes increasingly disillusioned with the world of publishing. As the lie spirals out of control, the film seeks out an ending that denies providing an easy pill to swallow and instead provides one final challenge to the audience.

American Fiction had its World Premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.