Blackbird is a 2014 drama film directed by Patrik-Ian Polk and starring Mo'Nique and Isaiah Washington.^[1] The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Larry Duplechan and was released theatrically on April 24, 2015.^[2]

Set in a small baptist community in the south of Mississippi, a 17-year-old high school senior and talented singer juggles with his sexuality and religion while also dealing with the disappearance of his younger sister as it tore his family apart.

• Julian Walker as Randy Rousseau
• Mo'Nique as Claire Rousseau
• Isaiah Washington as Lance Rousseau
• Kevin Allesee as Marshall MacNeil
• Terrell Tilford as Pastor Crandall
• D. Woods as Leslie Crandall
• Gary LeRoi Gray as Efrem
• Torrey Laamar as Todd Waterson
• Nikki Jane as Crystal

Polk initially tried to get the film made several years earlier, with Jussie Smollett cast as the young lead, however financing fell through.^[3] When the funding came through years later, he was forced to re-cast because of Smollett's busy schedule on Empire, and struggled to find a black male actor who would portray a gay love story on screen.^[3] However, he later met Julian Walker, who is openly gay, and chose to cast him despite his lack of acting experience.^[3]

Polk discussed, in an interview with BuzzFeed, the need for more stories featuring gay men who aren't white:^[3]

Through my years of filmmaking, we have seen the gay coming-of-age story from every possible white male point of view ... We’ve seen it over, and over, and over.

The film had a successful run on the film festival circuit, winning awards at several LGBT-oriented festivals including Outflix Memphis, Atlanta’s Out On Film Festival, and the Crossroads Film Festival in Polk’s native Mississippi.^[2] The film was the closing night gala screening for Los Angeles’ Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), where it won the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature Film.^[2]

Blackbird received mixed to negative reviews from critics. As of August 2020^[update], 40% of the ten reviews compiled on Rotten Tomatoes are positive, with an average rating of 4.6/10.^[4] The Hollywood Reporter called it "too all over the map to take seriously".^[5] The New York Times said that the film has an "impressive, palpable conviction", although it ultimately "suffers from soapy excesses and narrative disjunctures".^[6] Slant Magazine wrote: "Blackbird is, like its main character, too naïve to understand or, at least, to deploy the reparative powers of camp".^[7]

• List of black films of the 2010s