Review: Saturday Church

I’m late to the party, but that is nothing new for me. I finally watched Saturday Church. I really liked the movie.

Saturday Church is about a teenage black boy named Ulysses. Ulysses has recently lost his father. He lives with his mother and younger brother and his aunt has stepped in to help since his father passed away. Ulysses has an affinity for women’s clothing and his family tries to stifle it. His ultra conservative aunt threatens him whenever she sees a glimpse of that side of him. His aunt essentially bullies him when he’s home.

As if the grief of losing his father and the stress of his aunt’s verbal and emotional abuse are not enough, Ulysses is also bullied at school. It’s clear that something has to change. Change comes in the form of an eclectic group of transgender and gay people who welcome Ulysses into the fold. The group introduces Ulysses to the Saturday Church, which is a program at a church that provides food and shelter for LGBTQ people every Saturday.

The group gives Ulysses courage to begin accepting himself. He buys a pair of high heels to wear so that he can practice walking in them. His aunt finds the high heels and their interaction causes Ulysses to run away. I don’t want to spoil the movie for people, so that’s all I’m going to say about the plot.

Now, let’s talk about the movie in general. The characters randomly break into song during the movie. I usually don’t like that, but in this case, the songs were mostly short, lasting just long enough for you to notice they were singing, but not long enough to become annoying and make you wish that they would stop. The movie has some places where it allows the viewer to fill in the gaps, without making the viewer feel as if they are missing details. My only complaint about the movie is that it left me wanting more.

Overall: B+