The Big Picture

Exhibiting Forgiveness portrays generational trauma and healing realistically, avoiding the extremes of easy resolution or permanent severance. The film features outstanding performances from André Holland and John Earl Jelks, who portray complex and deeply flawed characters. The movie explores the concept of forgiveness as a transformative process that doesn’t erase past pain, emphasizing the importance of moving forward without forgetting.

Even though every other story seems to want to tackle this topic, getting stories about generational trauma right is difficult. Movies like this fall into two categories typically: the trauma is too easily overcome, or it irrevocably severs a family forever. Both are extremes that rarely reflect what happens in real life. You can’t escape your trauma just like you can’t really ever escape your family. But, with that in mind, telling stories about this is difficult. You have to thread an impossible needle. Naturally, we want to seek out catharsis and, oftentimes, that means stories like this will default to one of those extremes to achieve it. Exhibiting Forgiveness threads this needle expertly, giving us a messy and imperfect family that offers neither true reconciliation nor permanent severance.

In Titus Kaphar’s feature debut, we follow Tarrell (André Holland) as he returns home with his son and wife, Aisha (Andra Day), to help his mother, Joyce (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), pack her house up. Arriving, he is met by his estranged father, La’Ron (John Earl Jelks). Tarrell must then confront the trauma and abuse that he’s faced at the hands of his father while also trying to reckon the man he knew with the man his father is today. Like Kaphar, Tarrell is an accomplished artist who speaks through his art and evocative images. Kaphar’s eye for art translates perfectly into the audiovisual medium of film, making him a fantastic storyteller for this very personal story.

Exhibiting Forgiveness A Black artist on the path to success is derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father, a recovering addict desperate to reconcile. Together, they struggle and learn that forgetting might be a greater challenge than forgiving. Release Date January 20, 2024 Director Titus Kaphar Cast Andre Holland , Andra Day , Daniel Michael Barriere , Chip Carriere Runtime 117 minutes Main Genre Drama Writers Titus Kaphar

Titus Kaphar Isn’t Afraid to Hold Back in ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness’
When it comes to fictional stories, there might be an impulse from a storyteller to give the tale a satisfying ending. Something that offers the reader comfort. It’s that impulse that often gives us films that portray an unrealistic look at generational trauma and generational healing. Change doesn’t happen overnight and years and years of nightmares don’t just disappear after an apology. Titus Kaphar is well aware of that. When we meet Tarrell, we immediately know what kind of man he is. He is talented and influential as an artist, but he is also a loving father to his son and a supportive husband to Aisha. A musician and performer, she has clearly set aside her own professional achievements to focus on the family.

When Janine (Jaime Ray Newman), Tarrell’s pushy art agent, encourages him to do another art exhibition, the artist is reluctant. Though he hasn’t stopped painting, he’s keenly aware that while he’s been pursuing success, his wife has had to put a pause in her professional life. What initially comes off as an affectionate and thoughtful gesture gets deeper as the film goes on, and we learn more about Tarrell’s childhood and how his own mother and father interacted. Balance and equality are important to him, and so is being present with his family and allowing his son to be a child — something he never really got to experience with his own father.

Although the film is called Exhibiting Forgiveness, forgiveness is the most difficult task for Tarrell. When he is finally reunited with his father, all of his worst memories bubble to the surface. He is already plagued by his childhood; nightmares infect his sleep and he wakes up in a panic, screaming and thrashing. His father is the physical manifestation of those nightmares and his return isn’t met with anything but irritation and aversion from Tarrell. Kaphar never lets us believe that Tarrell is starting to forgive his father. Even as he learns more about his father’s past, there is understanding there, but it is damn near impossible for us to fully erase a traumatic scar from our past, and Kaphar knows this. Rather than give us a story that is neatly tied up in a bow by the end, he rightly pulls back and gives us a more realistic look at what happens.

André Holland and John Earl Jelks Give an Acting Masterclass in ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness’

Though Kaphar’s restraint and natural gift for storytelling is a clear benefit to Exhibiting Forgiveness, the film’s cast is what sells it. Everyone is firing on all cylinders, but it is Holland and Jelks who stand out with award-worthy performances. This is felt both when Tarrell and La’Ron are on the screen together and when they are separate. Jelks, in particular, is able to not only embody a mournful and apologetic father who is desperate to reconcile with his child, but also to inhabit the body of an addict who has been struggling for decades to try and shake the demons that haunt him.

There is a particular moment when La’Ron is detailing his own abusive father, telling Tarrell about how cruel and unforgiving his grandfather was while also saying that he was a “good man.” It’s the excuse many people give, especially from an older generation, for parents or relatives who are abusive. They may hurt the people that they love, but deep down, they’re a good person. La’Ron seems to sincerely believe that, calling his mother a saint and his father — who holds a gun up to his wife when she defends their son — a complicated but ultimately good man. It’s a devastating scene that Jelks plays to perfection, jumping between conversational casualness and somber recollection.

But Tarrell isn’t ready to forgive his father. Even though Holland betrays the depth of emotion Tarrell feels when he learns about his father’s past, there’s still a hardness in his face. Just because he learns about his father’s suffering, doesn’t mean it erases the damage he wrought on him. It’s clear that Tarrell is determined to break this cycle of abuse, determined to be a loving father who lets his son cry and lets him be imperfect. He’s shown himself that this is possible, which means it is even more difficult to forgive his father. Holland gives a multifaceted physical performance when he plays Tarrell, who goes from light-hearted to being coiled tightly in the presence of his father. Tarrell is always waiting for the other shoe to drop, never fully able to trust his father, and it shows in every moment of Holland’s performance.

Tragedy Brings a Family Together, but It Doesn’t Always Solve the Problem in ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness’
Image via Sundance 

At the climax of the film, tragedy strikes the family. But rather than allow this to be the moment for father and son to set their differences aside, the tragedy only pushes them further apart. It’s an important moment that Kaphar emphasizes. Time passes, but it doesn’t heal all the wounds. Any wise adage whispered as advice to people is disproven. The family isn’t brought together, past mistakes are not forgiven, and the nightmares continue. But Exhibiting Forgiveness shows us that anguish isn’t a permanent state of being, at least.

Tarrell and La’Ron do achieve some sort of peace, but it’s a far cry from a fairy tale ending. Kaphar offers hope without condescendingly suggesting that all is well. Learning everything we know about La’Ron and the inciting incident that ultimately led to Tarrell’s separation from his father doesn’t make us empathize with La’Ron in any way. If anything, it justifies Tarrell’s anger. Addiction tore this family apart, and he is right to be frightened of what it will do to his own family if La’Ron comes back into their lives.

Similarly, just because La’Ron is sober now doesn’t mean he’s penitent for all his crimes. He asserts that his “tough love” method made Tarrell the man he is today. That forcing a boy to mow a lawn after stepping on a rusty nail and bleeding into his shoes was just the kind of suffering he needed to make him a man. It’s classic abusive parent rhetoric. The pain and suffering I caused you turned you into the success you are today. Therefore, you’d be nothing without the tough love I gave you. When Tarrell realizes that La’Ron can’t understand just how twisted that logic is, it’s like a light turns on in his head.

With ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness,’ Titus Kaphar Has Found Another Form of Expression to Perfect
For Kaphar, forgiveness does not go hand in hand with forgetfulness. To forgive someone doesn’t mean you forget all of their crimes and turn a blind eye to the pain that was caused. For many, forgiveness is a return to equilibrium, but Kaphar rightly recognizes it as a metamorphosis. You might be ready to forgive someone, but that relationship will never be the same. You can never go back to the life you had before, you can only look forward. Exhibiting Forgiveness might be Kaphar’s first feature, but it’s clear that he has the wisdom of a seasoned artist. Kaphar himself is a celebrated artist, and you can tell from the way he tells this story that, despite the change in medium, he’s found yet another form of expression he is talented at.

Throughout the film, we see glimpses into Kaphar’s life as an artist through Tarrell, and we see how superficial the art world is to Tarrell compared to his own family life. Although Kaphar has the expertise to comment on the privileges and hypocrisies that exist in the art world, he doesn’t linger on them. Tarrell’s patrons seem to largely be rich white people who don’t seem to know or care about the depth and meaning behind his art. He’s a famous artist, and owning multiple pieces of his means the patron and artist are owed some type of relationship. While this is an interesting concept, it’s one of the weaker points of the film. It’s necessary to see Tarrell’s own life and how his father reacts to the exhibit, but when the focus returns to Tarrell and La’Ron, that’s when the film nearly achieves perfection.

A magnificent showing from Titus Kaphar and his talented cast, Exhibiting Forgiveness is a complicated and beautiful film that is masterfully crafted. It tackles the ghosts of the past, the scars of the present, and the promises of the future with nuance and grace. If this is the first look at what Kaphar can achieve, then I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

Exhibiting Forgiveness REVIEWTitus Kaphar makes a glorious debut with his emotional family drama centered around a father and a son. ProsTitus Kaphar fully understands the nuance and complicated emotions involved in a true family drama. Andre Holland and John Earl Jelks give tremendous performances as Tarrell and his father La’Ron. ConsThe film is at its best when it focuses on the family, less so when it focuses on the art world.

Exhibiting Forgiveness had its World Premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.