A young boy’s imagination offers an escape from a difficult family reality in the new trailer for “If I Go Will They Miss Me,” the Sundance drama starring Danielle Brooks, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and newcomer Bodhi Dell.
Written and directed by Walter Thompson-Hernández, the film unfolds in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where 12-year-old Lil Ant (Dell) struggles to connect with his distant father, Big Ant (Nicholson). Fascinated by airplanes and Greek mythology, the sensitive boy sees himself and his father through a lens of myth and wonder. When spectral visions of boys drifting through his neighborhood begin to appear, they reveal an unexpected connection between father and son, intertwining family history, legacy, and place.
The film expands Thompson-Hernández’s 2022 short of the same name, which won the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Fiction Short Film award. His feature-length version premiered in Sundance’s NEXT section earlier this year and recently won Best Feature Film at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival.
Myles Bullock and Bre-Z round out the cast. Thompson-Hernández also edited the film with Daysha Broadway, while Michael Fernandez served as cinematographer and Malcolm Parson composed the score. The film additionally features a song from Jon Batiste, who serves as an executive producer alongside Brooks and Nicholson.
Rich Spirit will open “If I Go Will They Miss Me” in Los Angeles on September 11 before expanding to more than 30 markets nationwide on September 18. Watch the trailer below.
