Premature

Budding writer Ayanna’s life is transformed over the course of one hot Harlem summer, when a handsome and mysterious stranger walks into her life.

Temperatures are rising in Harlem as Ayanna (Zora Howard) prepares to depart for a college writing programme. Then Isaiah appears on the scene. Echoing John Singleton’s Poetic Justice, Ayanna’s arresting poetry charts the rocky terrain of first love. If the couple find themselves tethered to the reality of urban life, at incisive moments they manage to soar within the love-scape of their own making.

The tender narrative, co-written by Howard and director Rashaad Ernesto Green, shifts between the naiveties, passions and fierce insights of a young woman coming of age. The combination of a profound central performance and the film’s assured direction elevate Premature beyond a classic New York love story to something fresh and truly special.