Rise

The last third of this uplifting tale is the most absorbing part of the film after an overly long set-up is diluted by an insistence on crafting seemingly flawless characters. Rise is a story that naturally inspires, and the film is buoyed by its connections to real life, including a Nigerian-born director, an excellent cast that includes the real-life Agada brothers, attractive locations in the family's actual neighborhood in Athens, and an Africa-infused score by Nigerian-born composer Ré Olunuga that includes two songs performed by the eldest Antetokounmpos brother, Francis. Still, a story like the real-life Antetokounmpos' of triumphing over the odds and demonstrating unending perseverance and dignity in the face of relentless hardships would only be made additionally compelling by a more realistic portrayal of the humans at its core. Creating characters with such model behavior and impeccable values can feel untrue to the rest of us humans, who lose our tempers and sometimes stumble.

Rise does a great job communicating the feeling of insecurity that comes with living undocumented in an adopted country, conveying the stress of everyday outings, threats from hostile neighbors, an innate fear of police, the worry that any misstep could break up a family or get children deported to a country they've never known. Scenes where Charles and Veronika meet with a cold bureaucrat embody the vicious cycle of trying to gain residency without legal work permits. The film aims to infuse Giannis' potential pro career, the latter portion of the story, with all of this extra significance and weightiness; viewers understand that the entire family's future rests on his fate. This makes the closing montage of the real-life success of not one but three Antetokounmpos brothers all the more satisfying and poignant.