In The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, three best friends lock arms for life, hoisting each other up as they are dealt one tough hand after another. The women – played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Uzo Aduba and Sanaa Lathan in their later years – keep their heads up through crushed dreams, manipulative romances, domestic abuse, addiction, violent hate crimes, the devastating loss of a child and a cancer diagnosis. There’s a lot of trauma to unpack. But that’s not really what The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat is out to do.
The movie, adapted from Edward Kelsey Moore’s bestselling novel and directed by Tina Mabry, stays buoyant and lighthearted, with intention. Hollywood only tends to tell Black stories when they can dwell on misfortune. This dramedy, instead, chooses joy and laughter, even when, given the circumstances of its storytelling, such levity can come off as forced. It’s an admirable attempt to fill a vacuum, but we can feel the effort, and the pursuit of a mission statement, over any emotional truth.
