Sundance London 2024 Review – Rob Peace (2024)

There’s a shot at the start of Rob Peace that you never forget – and that the film’s director, Chiwetel Ejiofor, always has in his mind. It’s a blazing house. The flames spew from the door as the building rages against a night sky. It’s the New Jersey home of the Peace family but, in unforgiving daylight, is now charred and empty. In his second film as a director – he also writes and stars – Ejiofor returns to it as his main image of the institutional failures that dogged the life of promising black Yale graduate, Rob Peace, and resulted in his murder in 2011 at the age of just 30.

Ejiofor has adapted Jeff Hobbs’ biography The Short And Tragic Life Of Robert Peace for his sophomore feature, one that echoes his debut, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, with its sincerity and earnest tone. Brought up in an impoverished neighbourhood, the young Rob was outstanding in his studies, but also had a natural gift for bringing people together, regardless of race, colour or creed. Earning a place at Yale, he studied biochemistry and aimed for a career in research, but behind his achievements was a more personal ambition – to help his father who he believed had been falsely imprisoned for murder. And to fund that , he sold marijuana.

Literally a modern tragedy, it’s a haunting story, one made even more heart-rending by its familiarity and giving Ejiofor the opportunity to develop his career as a director. Once again, he’s also writer and actor, taking on one of the film’s key roles and it’s the latter than is the most interesting. As Skeet, Rob’s father, he’s chosen to stretch himself further as an ambiguous character who, although mainly seen through his son’s adoring eyes, clearly has a darker side. But that doesn’t necessarily make him a murderer. As director, he shows a sure hand in giving Jay Will his first lead in a feature film and it’s a star making turn, full of confidence, insight and impressive maturity.

The film’s power is rooted in its story, which grips to such an extent that you’re inclined to forgive its missteps – occasional heavy handed direction, an awkward and unnecessary voiceover and uncomfortable overstatement at times . They’re more conspicuous because, for much of the film, Ejiofor displays a much more effective subtlety and restraint, especially during Peace’s times at Yale where he uses microaggressions to telling effect. And the argument for how white-dominated law, education and society as a whole consistently let down people with his talent and promise is not just compelling, but is written indelibly into the script. Ultimately, Rob Peace is still an absorbing, thought-provoking piece of cinema but one which relies its acting talent to elevate it to another level.

★★★1/2

Showing at Sundance London on 8 and 9 June / Jay Will, Mary J Blige, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Camila Cabello, Michael Kelly, Mare Winningham / Dir: Chiwetel Ejiofor / 15