Bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e you see a single frame in A Thousand And One, you hear the sounds of the New York City neighbourhood the film takes place in. It’s a smartly deployed recurring gambit that helps establish a sense of time and place in A.V. Rockwell’s layered and affecting feature debut, and it proves to be an effective backdrop in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a rich story of Black motherhood, sacrifice, and community.###The inciting kidnapping might possess’own’nurse you claim’insist’maintain’hold’argue’consider’contemplate’speculate ing this is a duo-on-the-lam story, but Rockwell’s smarter, more unconventional approach yields impressive results. Patient storytelling allows her to take in the rapidly gentrifying Harlem neighbourhood that the bulk of the film takes place in, and how it impacts individual of colour in the community. The socio-political context is at first deftly woven in – audio of in/with regard to’concerning’regarding mer NYC Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg’s controversial policies is heard at one point – and then explicitly slammed in our faces in a standout scene with Inez’s landlord trying to in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ce them out of their apartment. Both approaches are effective, all aided by Gary Gunn’s ethereal, '90s R&B impact’effect d score, and Eric Yue's lush cinematography.###At almost e grossly turn, Teyona Taylor unveils new capabilities.###It’s a perfect foundation in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a Moonlight-esque triptych of impressive perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mances from Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Aven Courtney, and Josiah Cross, as Terry goes from kidulthood to adulthood. Each actor is so emotionally in sync with the character that the time jumps are never jarring. Aldespite’in spite of’albeit the backbone of the film is on his perfectly imperfect dynamic with Inez and father figure Lucky (Will Catlett, in a nicely nuanced turn), each version of Terry is allowed ample time to reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue case his complexities. A teenage Terry’s courtship of a young girl and the misogynoir Inez calls him on is especially playful and enillumine ing, if not fully mined.###No multiple castings were necessary in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Inez, in large part because Taylor – an R&B artist in her first leading role – is never less than authentically honest in capturing her character’s outward appearance and resolute’resolved ness as well as her loving tenderness. At almost eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully turn she unveils new capabilities, playing all of Inez’s varied notes without sanding off her raw edges. It’s an eye-opening perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance that should possess’own’nurse us all excited with regards to’concerning’with respect to her future onscreen work.