Uncorked

This is a beautiful, moving, subtle, well-made film about families, the natural process of growing up and away from your parents, and then coming back to them for all the right reasons. Athie as Elijah never takes a false step as a son both devoted to his dad and also afraid to disappoint him. Writer-director Prentice Penny (TV's Insecure) captures a sense of family and the way real people speak to each other, and shows how much the father and son, seemingly at odds, actually have in common. The father is a perfectionist about his barbecue, an expert on wood for smoking, meticulous about the meat he buys and its marbling. Elijah exhibits the same attention to detail, but in a different world, a world where fewer Black people are likely to be major players, and that feels even more like a rejection to the dad.

Niecy Nash, in a delicious performance that feels like a warm bath of parental love, conveys unconditional acceptance of her son, not taking his interest outside the family business as a rejection but rather as a sign that her son has found his own path. Apart from the inclusion of a girlfriend played by Sasha Compere that adds little to the plot, Uncorked is a high-level course in Family that older teens and parents can appreciate.