I feel like I am in mourning. Committing to watching Concrete Cowboys (2021), I had no choice on whether I would absorb this feeling or not. After 2020, I am baffled at the audacity to release a film so harrowing in its ending. Directed by Ricky Staub, a story by Gregory Neri, I wish I could ask what the goal or intention of the story was.

This movie had the capacity to be a great film but felt more like an exploration and experimentation of directing aesthetics with common, archetypical tropes lived by those experiencing Blackness. Many scenes, as photo stills were great, but not in conversation with one another once stitched together.

After watching this, I need to watch something to lift my spirits like Bad Trip (2021). I am upset- but also glad I had yet to read any reviews to prompt a biased view prior to engaging with the movie. I had zero expectations but I do know that I was jolted and launched back to March 13, 2020 when Breonna Taylor was murdered. I was unable to sleep for months. All that to basically say, two truths can live at the same time: the movie was trash, but I did learn about a community of horse riders in Philadelphia, The Fletcher Street Riders.