A surreal and heartfelt portrait of a young boy caught between his own burgeoning artistic identity and his father's rigid expectations of masculinity, told with visual flair and deep empathy.
The journalist-turned-director channels elements of surrealism, modern dance and Greek mythology that have never been combined in quite this way before.
If I Go Will They Miss Me 2026
Lil Ant (Bodhi Dell) is a sensitive 12-year-old artist struggling to find his place in a world that hasn't offered much in the way of positive male role models. When his father, Big Ant (J. Alphonse Nicholson), is released from prison, tensions arise as he slips into old patterns rather than moving on from his past, struggling to accept that his son is not the embodiment of masculine ideals that he would like him to be. While Lil Ant grapples with not being accepted by the father he holds in such high regard, he gravitates toward his supportive mother played by Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple) in a role that brings a sympathetic middle ground between the two leads.
Writer-director Walter Thompson-Hernández weaves in elements of magical realism to illuminate the inner worlds of his characters and to elevate the traditional coming-of-age narrative to something more surreal, more unique. If I Go Will They Miss Me is an exploration of generational ideas of masculinity and identity, told with empathy for its characters, with Thompson-Hernández firmly establishing himself among the brightest voices in modern African-American cinema.
– Jordan Salomen