Angelfish is a 2019 drama about a young couple from two completely different worlds who fall in love over a summer that reshapes their lives.
In the summer of 1993, Brendan (Jimi Stanton) is a young man working in the deli of a Bronx grocery store, trying to do his part in taking care of himself, his troubled teen brother (Stanley Simons), and their single mother (Erin Davie), she recklessly abusing alcohol. One day, in the store walks Eva (Princess Nokia), a girl he immediately makes an impression with when he scares off an irritating suitor who tries to make moves on the pretty girl. Soon Brendan and Eva are getting close, Eva confessing that she wants to be an actor even though her mother (Rosie Berrido) is pushing her for something more steady, like accounting so to help provide for others in the family, especially her special-needs brother (Ivan Mendez.) While Brendan and Eva struggle to connect, racism, old lovers, and more drive wedges that threaten to ruin everything they’ve built.
Directed and co-written by Peter Lee, in his feature length debut, Angelfish is a small poignant little film that feels deeply personal, tracking a short time in the lives of two different people from opposite sides of the track as they fall earnestly in love. Eva is a Puerto Rican girl from a proud hard working family and Brendan is white, he the only stability in his broken home. His mother is spiralling, drinking too much and unhappy her eldest boy is getting involved with Eva, her aggressive racism barely held in check. Her home is a wreck, with hardly a scrap of food in the house and her younger son about to fall into a life of crime. Brendan lives in constant care mode, never appreciated for his efforts to keep his family intact.
Meanwhile, Eva has issues in her own house, and as her dreams seem ever farther out of reach, she and Brendan find escape in each other. That leaves Angelfish a gentle, dialogue-driven experience with a pair of young leads to carry its predictable story, but one done so well, there’s a kind of joy in watching how emotionally intimate it all gets. Lee knows the genre well, and wisely doesn’t point his camera in distraction, trying to convince us of the timeline with nods to fads and trends of the era, instead putting all his efforts on the couple. It’s a good choice, skipping obvious pokes at nostalgia for genuine storytelling, and while it’s purposely paced to allow these two young people some space to grow, it’s impressively personal and authentic.
This isn’t a movie about building to hyperdramatic moments of conflict, even as a few smaller ones seem on tap, but rather a film about a relationship and the real life issues that remain in orbit. Sidestepping clichés at every turn, Angelfish finds its footing in a more embracing truth, and though its limited budget might keep it feeling a little unpolished, that only works more in its favor. Highly recommended.