Set in contemporary DC, Really Love takes us on the journey of art and love through characters Isaiah Maxwell ( Kofi Siriboe) and Stevie Solomon (Yootha Wong-Loi Sing). We begin the journey of Stevie and Isaiah at an art solo show for Isaiah’s mentor Yusef Davis (Michael Ealy). The characters meet by connecting over one particular piece exhibited at Yusef’s show. As a director, I truly enjoyed the choice of how this moment was incorporated into the film, because three minutes into the film, we began admiration for these characters and their newfound relationship.
As we venture on through the film, we learn that Isaiah is a struggling artist, Stevie is a law student at Georgetown, and both of them are working hard to jumpstart their careers. The love that surrounds them is sweet, innocent, and filled with promise. But even with that promise surrounding them, both characters are at a pivotal moment in their lives where they have to make decisions. These decisions challenge the notion of stability for their relationship and force them to put love on the back burner. The film was very dialogue-driven, allowing us to keep the pace of the story, yet still found ways to incorporate silence, adding intimacy we didn’t know we needed.
I resonated with the character Isaiah the most, because of his struggle between balancing love and art. As an artist, I am aware that love is what feeds us. But in the same breath, it is what runs us dry. We often overindulge in love which gives us excitement and helps us create, but then after a while that overindulgence is what causes a creative block.
The reason being, art is selfish.
If we could personify art, it would be the partner that brings the best out of you but also needs constant attention and reassurance. It’s unable to compete with anything or anyone else. Going back to the film, Isaiah began to invest so much time into his newfound relationship with Stevie, that he began to neglect his art. Desperately wanting a solo show, but not putting in the time and effort in his work to make sure he created an opportunity to have one. Rather, It wasn’t until he spoke with his curator, that he realized he was playing everything safe and no longer taking risks. It was in that moment where he felt like he needed to discipline himself and make a choice, love or art?
He chose art.
It’s tricky because essentially that was the only choice he could choose. For a long time, I believed that artists were meant to date artists, and part of me still believes that. Watching Really Love partially confirmed that theory because Stevie was incapable of understanding the sacrifice that comes with dating an artist. She didn’t understand that the more time he put into their relationship instead of his art, the more stifled he had become. She took him pouring his time into his art as a sign of neglect to their relationship instead of his way of saving it.
Often as humans, we look for people to pour into us, instead of us just pouring into ourselves. We set so many limitations to what love should look like when in actuality love is free-flowing and unrestricted. It’s selfless, and the return on the investment is not always instant. I’ve been in many relationships that required me to choose between art and love. Sometimes I’ve chosen love instead of art. But as time went on, I realized that choice was me choosing someone else’s love over the love I have for myself.
This film gave me room to feel. It allowed me to be present in my thoughts and emotions, and face some of the struggles I have in my personal life. That alone is something I haven’t been able to do for a while when watching a movie. This film showed us, real people, in real-time, experiencing real love. It allowed us to explore our fears and tap into our truths. Really love is a film that transcends beyond being in love and highlights the journey of it & the emotions we feel when we try to navigate it. If you have seen the film, tell me your thoughts.
Really Love is currently streaming on Netflix.