The struggles faced by a member of the LGBTQ+ community make for a heart-wrenching story more often than not, but a story about one young, gay, Black man’s experience of becoming a Marine brings a weight all its own. Now, filmmaker Elegance Bratton seeks to capture that weight with The Inspection, an emotionally poignant drama based on his own life experiences and the latest of A24‘s fall slate to receive a trailer, itself a striking taste of what’s in store.
The Inspection stars Jeremy Pope (Hollywood, One Night in Miami) as Ellis French, a young man who finds himself down on his luck and without much in the way of support. When he makes the choice to enlist with the Marines, his fine physical performance is overshadowed by his inability to hide his identity as a gay man. Subject to tenacious hazing by instructors and colleagues alike, Ellis nevertheless remains determined to carve out a place for himself in a system that wants nothing to do with him.
Pope, who was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance as fictional screenwriter Archie Coleman in the Netflix original series Hollywood, is joined by the likes of Gabrielle Union (The Birth of a Nation), Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo), Raúl Castillo (We the Animals), and Nicholas Logan (Samaritan). It will be Elegance Bratton’s second feature film after Pier Kids, the documentary about three homeless LGBTQ+ youths that earned him an Outstanding Documentary nomination from the GLAAD Media Awards.
The Inspection will release to theaters on Nov. 18.