The comic sci-fi blaxploitation homage "They Cloned Tyrone" is a wild genre mashup that mixes styles and influences from across the genre spectrum, like a trip to the video store with nods to filmmakers John Carpenter, Spike Lee, Boots Riley and others.
Co-writer and director Juel Taylor's feature debut is a little bit "Get Out," a little bit "The Cabin in the Woods" and a little bit "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," while being equal parts weighty and fun. And it wrings fruitful performances from its trio of leads, John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and scene-stealer Teyonah Parris.
Boyega stars as Fontaine, a low-level dope boy in the Glen, a run-down neighborhood of pushers, pimps and prostitutes where everyone has a role that they stick closely to. We're in modern times, but through its gritty production design, grainy filter and throwback costuming, Taylor makes "Tyrone" look like it's fresh out of 1975.
