“Be Like Me” Film Review

BlueBook Magazine reviews “Be Like Me,” the debut film by Ama Gisèle.

Filmmaker Orson Welles is credited with saying “the enemy of art is the absence of limitations.” This simply means that it is not access to resources that causes memorable art to come forth, but instead that notable works are often made through the process of figuring out how to do more with less.

Rapper Denzel Curry voiced a similar sentiment in a 2022 interview with SPIN Magazine. Addressing albums Donda and Certified Lover Boy by Kanye West and Drake respectively, he remarks:” you’ve got all these resources, and y’all made subpar albums. I had limited resources, and I made a great one.”

If lack of resources is a prelude to a great artistic endeavor, filmmaker Ama Gisèle was poised to make something memorable. Relocating from New York to Los Angeles to pursue a career in television writing, Gisèle found that her opportunities to break into the business were put on ice by the outbreak of Coronavirus. Wanting to keep her creative skills sharp without committing herself to a multi-year traditional production cycle, she, along with a small team, decided to produce a short film. Following a successful fundraising campaign, she and her team wrote the film in Spring of 2020, and completed filming that August.

"I make motion pictures about kinship, a sense of coming home, and becoming someone new."

-Ama Giselle

Top of Article: Portrait of Ama Gisele by Trelldot
Above: Jaida Hodge-Adams (left) and Yasmine Alfakey (right) as Dina and Angela

The result, “Be Like Me,” manages to shine through the limitations of its creation. The plot of the 11-minute film is simple: older sister Angela (Yasmine Alfakey), who is newly back home from being in college, is babysitting her 16 year old sister Dina (Jaida Hodge-Adams) while their mother (Liz Benoit) is working the night shift. While Angela and Dina enjoy a positive relationship, conflict arises when rebellious Dina takes the family car to visit an older romantic interest named Dylan (Royce Jountti). While the plot itself is simple, the great dynamics between the cast members add depth to the story. The chemistry between the sisters creates the impression of a realistic, messy, but ultimately supportive relationship between two siblings. Dylan and the mother also display great chemistry with our main characters even with their limited screen time.

Complementing the casting are the film's stellar visual and audio production. The production team was also responsible for the designs of each of the homes in the film, a process which Gisèle describes as a combination of crew members bringing items from their homes and them “go[ing] to Target and throw every colorful thing that they could find in the cart.” Director of Photography Braden Hollis has a background in painting, which they put to good use through the film's stellar lighting and gorgeous color palettes. The soundtrack for this film is a particular highlight. Through the talents of Sound Editor Evan Wright and Music and Soundtrack overseer Chantal Hernandez, the team was able to make a tracklist that perfectly fits the vibe of each scene. Dina’s drive to Dylan’s house is a standout scene incorporating the best of visual and audio design. The color palette of the film transitions from a warm sunset tone to the darkness of early evening. We see the perspective from the backseat of the car and only see Dina’s face though the rearview mirror. The shadows at the edge of the scene give us the sense of impending danger, which is exacerbated by the lack of dialogue. We watch Dina apply her makeup through the rearview mirror, while the song Bad Girls by D’Arcy & Cady plays. The song is interwoven with frantic voicemail calls from her sister Angela asking her to return. Her pleas fall on deaf ears as Dina enters Dylan’s house and the door shuts behind them. It’s seriously well done.

In Be Like Me, Ama Gisèle is able to do a lot with little. She is able to balance many themes within the 11-minute run time, some obvious (sisterhood, older/younger sibling dynamics, and peer pressure), and others subtle (dynamics of single mother households, predatory relationships, learning and growing from mistakes). At the core of this is a director who is deeply driven to depict authentic human relationships. As an artist, Gisèle describes herself as someone who uses her experiences to “make motion pictures about kinship, a sense of coming home, and becoming someone new.” Even more importantly, she describes herself as someone who is above all things a good sister, and “Be Like Me” can only resonate as strongly as it does because Gisèle is writing directly from her experiences navigating siblinghood. And when we set out to make something memorable on limited resources, what richer well is there to pull from than our own experiences?

WATCH "bE lIKE mE" BELOW

BEFORE YOU GO...

Keep up with Ama's Latest work at amawrites.com