The Price
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAnthony Onah
Written byAnthony Onah
Produced byJustin Begnaud
Kishori Rajan
Anthony Onah
StarringAml Ameen
Lucy Griffiths
Michael Hyatt
Peter Vack
Souléymane Sy Savané
Craig muMs Grant
Bill Sage
CinematographyDavid McFarland
Edited byGrant Myers
Music byEnis Rotthoff
Production
companies
Hacienda Motion Picture Company
Ten on 5 Productions
Water's End Productions
Infinitum Productions (in association with)
Distributed byOrion Pictures
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release dates
  • March 13, 2017 (2017-03-13) (SXSW)
  • November 10, 2017 (2017-11-10) (United States)
Running time
92 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Nigeria
LanguageEnglish

The Price is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Anthony Onah. The film stars Aml Ameen, Lucy Griffiths, Peter Vack, Michael Hyatt,Souléymane Sy Savané, Craig muMs Grant, and Bill Sage.

The Price premiered in the Narrative Feature Competition at the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival. Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films released the film theatrically on November 10, 2017.

Plot

Seyi Ogunde is the American son of Nigerian immigrants who live outside New York City. With single-minded focus, he’s attended a prestigious college and landed a competitive finance job. He’s both confident in his abilities and deeply insecure because of his African background. While he contends with life and career in New York, Seyi grapples with a turbulent family situation in Hackensack, New Jersey: his stroke-ridden father dreams of a return to Nigeria, his mother slaves as a nurse to help keep the home afloat, and his sister struggles to care for their infirm parent. Hovering over these family difficulties is a painful past incident that has yet to be reckoned with.

Seyi only endures the strain of work and family with the assistance of illegally acquired prescription drugs—and his dependence is deepening. Adding to this cocktail, Seyi meets Liz, a girl whose well-to-do background leads him to believe he must embellish his own in order to win her over. Dead set on both impressing Liz and fulfilling his family obligations, Seyi soon finds himself sliding into a highly fraudulent financial scheme–one that props up his short-term earnings but also leaves him at great risk.

As Seyi’s choices play out, he finds his life quickly spiraling out of control: the law pursues him because of his financial dealings; Liz discovers he’s not exactly who he’s claimed to be; and his prescription drug dependence grows stronger, ultimately landing him in the hospital. Everything comes to a head when his sick father suffers a second large stroke and the devastating family secret comes into the open. With Seyi’s relationships pulled apart and the Feds bearing down on him and his firm, he is forced to fully examine his choices.

Cast

Release

The film premiered on March 13, 2017 at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where it competed for the Grand Jury Award.[1] Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films subsequently acquired theatrical distribution rights to the film, and they released it on November 10, 2017.[2]

Reception

The Price was released to positive reviews from critics. Dennis Harvey, in his review for Variety, says the film is "a thoughtfully crafted, elegant-looking indie drama that suggests a bright future for Onah" and "a first feature so assured on nearly all levels."[3]

Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com praised the directing and writing, saying The Price is "brisk and coherent" and a "sharply observed film," giving it 3 out of 4 stars.[4]

Joshua Starnes of ComingSoon.net called The Price "by far the best surprise of the small indie films" at the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival, adding: "Pointed without ever falling into stereotypes, it’s a bold statement about modern immigrant life in America and not to be missed"[5]

Rob Staeger, in his positive review for LA Weekly, writes that Onah puts his lead at "the center of a sharply drawn world, from the fearful racism he encounters on the streets to his struggles to please and/or ignore his mom (the excellent Michael Hyatt). Ameen holds that world together with his grounded presence, a driven young man struggling to calibrate his moral compass in the face of intense pressure."[6]

On review-aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 83% with an average rating of 6.4/10.[7] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 61 out of 100 indicating "generally favorable reviews".[8]

Accolades

Awards
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipients and nominees Result
South by Southwest Film Festival[9] March 14, 2017 Grand Jury Prize The Price Nominated
Seattle International Film Festival[10] June 11, 2017 FIPRESCI Prize in the New American Cinema Competition The Price Nominated
Indie Memphis Film Festival[11] November 5, 2017 Craig Brewer Emerging Filmmaker Award Anthony Onah Won

References

  1. ↑ "The best of the fest at South by Southwest". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  2. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (2017-07-12). "Anthony Onah's SXSW Film 'The Price' Lands At Orion & Samuel Goldwyn". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  3. ↑ "'The Price' Review: An Immigrant's Story". Variety. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  4. ↑ "The Price Movie Review and Film Summary (2017)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  5. ↑ "South by Southwest Film Wrap Up". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  6. ↑ "The Price (NR)". LA Weekly. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  7. ↑ "The Price (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  8. ↑ "The Price Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  9. ↑ "The best of the fest at South by Southwest". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  10. ↑ "New American Cinema Competition". Seattle International Film Festival. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Indie Memphis: 2017 Film Festival Award Winners". USA Today. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
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