Premature

"Premature" is a delicious slow-burn of a movie, the kind of coming-of-age tale that looks familiar on the surface only to reveal hidden depths of beauty and meaning.

Rashaad Ernesto Green's poignant coming-of-age drama reflects his fruitful collaboration with Zora Howard, who wrote the script with him and also stars as Ayanna, a high-school senior in Harlem who is preparing to leave for college.

It truly is an independent film in all the best possible ways: in the authenticity of it, the sense of place, in the fact that you feel like you're watching true people figuring out their lives.

This film explores the very real ways that love heals, that it transforms, that it tests and changes us.

A romantic and richly drawn conversation-starter.

Rashaad Ernesto Green's innocently composed Premature... deeply [inhales] love with each earnest breath.

The beats may be familiar here, but the music, so to speak, is fresh and engrossing.

Zora Howard and Joshua Boone deliver excellent performances and it's a well-written script by Rashaad Ernesto Green and Howard.

Premature is the best kind of indie film, filled with raw emotion, honest and human portraits of life, and strong acting from a young, talented cast.

Zora Howard is absolutely extraordinary in this coming-of-age love story, which she also cowrote.