John Boyega (The Force Awakens) is a 21-year-old reformed gangster returning to his old stomping grounds in Watts, LA, in...
John Boyega (The Force Awakens) is a 21-year-old reformed gangster returning to his old stomping grounds in Watts, LA, in co-writer director Malik Vitthal's debut.
Bambi (Boyega) wants to publish his credos and chronicles and start his career the way any other normal young writer would. For Bambi, however, normal is the quandary. "Normal" means returning to Watts, Los Angeles, after a 28-month jail stint to find his young son playing next to his strung-out grandmother. It’s normal for the patriarch of his family to offer Bambi pills, guns, and a drug-running job as a way to welcome him home. A normal visit from his cousin involves Bambi and son performing minor surgery to extract a bullet from his arm. Bambi meets this surreal, ghetto normal with equanimity, but he knows life can’t be "normal" like this for long.
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92 %13 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® rating
82 %654 reviewsAudience score rating
"Bighearted yet surprisingly nuanced..."
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Variety
Variety"Malik Vitthal's first feature gives rich dramatic life to a piercingly analytical view of the American way of incarceration."
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The New Yorker
The New Yorker"Imperial Dreams - for all it's good intentions - makes watching its reality a grind. Vitthal's film is full of heart, but overly ambitious."
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The Guardian
The Guardian"An assured debut that stands to connect with a diverse audience."
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Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood ReporterImperial Dreams | Details
Award winner- Winner of the Best of Next! Audience Award, 2014 Sundance Film Festival
- Runtime
- 87
- Genre
- Drama
- Country of origin
- USA
