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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Peter Bradshaw

Pretty Red Dress review – big-hearted music drama dresses to impress

Natey Jones in Pretty Red Dress
Pulsing with humanity … Natey Jones in Pretty Red Dress Photograph: PR

There’s warmth, humour, sadness and tenderness in this big-hearted feature debut from writer-director Dionne Edwards. It’s a movie about masculinity that could have been solemn and prescriptive; instead it’s pulsing with humanity, thanks in great part to tremendous performances from its leads Natey Jones, Alexandra Burke and smart newcomer Temilola Olatunbosun.

Burke is already known as a West End performer, recording star and X Factor winner; she plays Candice, a singer about to land the role of a lifetime playing Tina Turner in a big musical – just a few more audition rounds to go. But she has problems: teen daughter Kenisha (Olatunbosun) is in trouble at school, and her partner, Travis (Jones) is just out of prison on licence, his ankle tag giving him a strange and sinister limp.

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