Pretty Red Dress

Freshly released from prison, Travis (Natey Jones) returns to his south London home with his girlfriend Candice (Alexandra Burke) and their teenage daughter Kenisha (Temilola Olatunbosun). However, returning to normality isn’t easy for him. Kenisha is on the brink of being expelled from school for fighting, and he’s forced to take a degrading job working for his brother (Rolan Bell) to pay for a dazzling red dress for Candice’s upcoming West End audition to play Tina Turner. His girlfriend isn’t the only one who’s taken by the fancy garment, though. Travis, too, becomes enamoured with it, trying it on when he thinks he’s alone.

It’s not long until his secret is discovered by his family, which only creates more problems for each of them. From herein, writer-director Dionne Edwards puts this family under the microscope to explore themes of identity in this slow-burn drama brimming with humanity, love, and Motown.

The central turns from Jones, Burke and Olatunbosun are where this film shines the brightest. Each actor pours so much emotion and energy into their roles that viewers will feel every ounce of pain, anger and happiness from them. The pivotal scene in which Candice confronts Travis over his fetish is already hard to watch thanks to the powerful performances, but even that can’t compare to Jones’s reaction when he accidentally damages the dress. Burke’s acting is likewise exceptional here too, with the star also given the opportunity to impress with her musical talents in a selection of powerful vocal renditions of Turner’s hits.

Alongside working as an intimate family drama, Edwards’s film also functions as an effective examination of masculinity and community. Throughout the film, Travis is repeatedly told to be “normal” and to act like a “real man” by those around him. There’s a gaping chasm between the macho façade he’s expected to wear and the person he’s most comfortable being. Casual homophobia and racism similarly seep into the script, which frame Travis’s story against a backdrop that feels all too real at times.

In her feature debut, Edwards has created an extraordinary tale of self-acceptance and family, fronted by strong performances from its leading actors.

Andrew Murray

Pretty Red Dress is released in select cinemas on 16^th June 2023 and available on BFI Player on 7^th August 2023.

Watch the trailer for Pretty Red Dress here: