VOICE OF THE PEOPLE // A FILM REVIEW OF "REEFA"
REEFA is a movie that is sadly perfectly timed for release. It also would have been perfectly timed last year. Or the year before. The true story of Israel "Reefa" Hernandez, the son of an immigrant family from Columbia trying to make it in America. It's the story of an artist's life cut short. It's also the story of Police brutality, as Reefa's life was sadly cut short for spray-painting a wall. It's also a story of an immigrant family and the racism that surrounds them. These are stories that we know all too well and filmmaker Jessica Kavana Dornbusch does a good job laying out this tragedy but never forgetting to showcase the beauty he created, the beauty of who he was.
Tyler Dean Flores plays Reefa, an 18-year-old skateboarding artist who wants to make a name for himself. He knows he's an artist, even if his father (José Zúñiga) doesn't quite know it yet. His father wants his family to always be extremely careful, as they are immigrants awaiting their Green Cards and any small slip-up or infraction could result in them being forced back to Columbia. But Reefa knows that his graffiti tagging is just as good as some of the legends there in Miami and he's ready to prove himself and eventually move to NYC. Unfortunately for him, there's a local cop, Officer Morales (Ricardo Chavira) who is dead set on stopping all of the kids tagging up "his city" walls. From early on, we see that Morales is a hot-headed cop, partnered with a rookie who's none too impressed with his antics. He pegs Reefa early on and often follows him as he skateboards through the city, letting him know that he's got an eye on him. Reefa has a loving family and a group of great friends, most of them know exactly the kind of art he creates and knows along with him that he's going to be the "next big thing." His charm even, well, charms a model named Frankie that he works with on a shoot (Clara McGregor) and they begin to spend every moment together that he's not creating art. Everything seems perfectly beautiful, until the bottom drops out of all of it.
Writer/Director Dornbusch has taken several liberties and although the film was made with the Hernandez family's blessing, it's unclear how many liberties were taken. For instance, the night the tragic event, there were several cops who chased Reefa and were implicated in his death and not just Officer Morales and his partner. And the night in question he was tagging a shuttered McDonalds, not creating his opus to be remembered by. These small changes are to be forgiven, as a narrative story often changes small things for more linear storytelling. But while there is a lot that works with the film, other moments are often left as only the beginning of an idea. Such as Frankie's desire to be a writer, not just a model which is touched on but never explored. Or that she was emancipated from her parents at age 15. In fact, the relationship with Frankie all together seems a bit forced, and not fully developed as it could have been. Still, the cast is overall dynamic, especially Tyler Dean Flores as Reefa and José Zúñiga as his hard working father, and their performances outshine some of the weaker bits of dialogue. The officers never faced justice for Reefa's death, making this once again a very timely story. Reefa was still a kid, just beginning to use his voice. Who knows what beauty he could have created by now, had he been given the chance?
GRADE: B
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Jessica Kavana Dornbusch STARRING Tyler Dean Flores, José Zúñiga, Margarita Rosa de Francisco, Clara McGregor, Ricardo Chavira, Cinthya Carmona, George Sear, Ezana Alem, George Sear. OPENING ON DEMAND APRIL 16TH.