TV writer Cord Jefferson (HBO’s Watchmen) makes an auspicious filmmaking debut with this wincingly acute comedy-drama. Jeffrey Wright, in a rare but highly satisfying lead role, plays Thelonius ‘Monk’ Ellison, an embittered literature academic whose lofty new book (a reworking of Aeschylus’ The Persians) has left publishers cold. Instead, he has to stand by and watch fellow Black novelist Sintara Golden (Issa Rae) scoop up the plaudits for her debut novel, We’s Lives in Da Ghetto.
"Books like this are not real, they flatten our lives," he bemoans, believing that novels focused on Black poverty and crime do nobody any favors - especially when an author like Golden is middle class. In a fit of pique, Monk writes a stereotype-laden rejoinder in the form of My Pafology, under the assumed name of Stagg R. Leigh (who can’t go public as he’s wanted by the police). With encouragement from his agent (John Ortiz), Monk’s book is soon picked up by a major publisher, with white executives desperate to cash in on its gritty milieu.
