Movies about inner-city life usually drown in bleakness. They mistake misery for honesty. Walter Thompson-Hernández didn't buy into that lie. His feature debut, If I Go Will They Miss Me, treats the streets of Watts not as a war zone, but as a place where myth, memory, and everyday survival collide.
You're watching a story about a family trying to stay whole after prison sentences and broken promises. But you're also seeing it through the eyes of a kid who thinks his dad is Poseidon. That shift in perspective changes everything.
Myth Meets Asphalt in Watts
Twelve-year-old Anthony Jr., known as Lil Ant and played with aching sincerity by newcomer Bodhi Dell, lives in the Nickerson Gardens Housing Project. Overhead, airplanes roar constantly from LAX, carving paths through the sky. Down below, Lil Ant escapes into school lessons on Greek mythology. He draws his father, Big Ant—played by J. Alphonse Nicholson—as a towering god hurling tridents.
Big Ant just got home from another stint behind bars. He's trying to hold down a job at a horse ranch outside the city, but the transition is brutal. He looks at his sensitive son and panics. He sees too much of his own vulnerability reflected back at him.
Nicholson plays this friction brilliantly. He isn't a cartoon villain. He's a man terrified that his own flaws will destroy his kids. When he starts pulling away from Lil Ant, it hurts because it feels entirely human.
The Grounded Power of Danielle Brooks
Then you have Danielle Brooks as Lozita. She anchors the entire film. While the men in the neighborhood wrestle with ego and generational trauma, Lozita holds the household together with fierce dignity and a sharp sense of humor.
Brooks doesn't need long monologues to show exhaustion. A flick of her eyes or a heavy sigh tells you she's carrying an unbearable weight. When a crisis hits, she doesn't flinch. She protects her children with an absolute clarity that exposes how lost the men around her really are.
Cinematographer Michael Fernandez shoots these neighborhoods with warmth and intimacy. The faded yellow walls of the housing projects aren't treated with grim exploitation. They're framed like memories.
Why This Story Hits Differently
Too many coming-of-age dramas rely on lazy tropes. They rush through emotional beats to hit expected plot points. Thompson-Hernández takes his time. He trusts you to sit with the silence, the awkward reunions, and the quiet spaces between family members.
The film expands on his acclaimed 2022 short of the same name. By stretching the narrative into a feature, he gives the supporting cast—including Bre-Z and Myles Bullock—room to breathe. Bullock gets a standout late-scene monologue about fatherhood that resonates long after the credits roll.
You don't need to grow up in Watts to recognize these dynamics. We've all watched someone we love struggle to live up to the pedestal we placed them on. We've all had to figure out how to forgive human flaws.
Skip the cynical cynicism dominating modern cinema. Pay attention to directors who look at their own communities with love instead of judgment.
Watch the official trailer and cast spotlight for If I Go Will They Miss Me
This short clip offers a quick look at the core father-son dynamic and features interviews with stars Danielle Brooks and J. Alphonse Nicholson discussing the film's emotional heart in Watts.
