The Photograph (2020) Film Review (Films With Tyra Series Debut)

(WARNING: SPOILERS FOR “The Photograph” AND “Insecure”)

In November 2024, I watched “Insecure” in completion for the first time. Before then, I never watched a single episode. 

At most, I glanced at an episode for a couple of minutes, back in 2021. My older sister was watching the season five episode “Reunited, Okay?!” in our once-shared bedroom with the volume on high while I was trying to sleep.

The scene I glanced at was when Issa, Molly, and Cheyenne, Issa and Molly’s classmate from Stanford and fellow member of their short-lived rap trio “Trap Habit,” were in the middle of being robbed at gunpoint in front of the liquor store when the “thief” accidentally said Cheyenne’s name, and Issa and Molly realized that Cheyenne was in on the robbery.

“It ain’t nothing personal, everybody can get it!” Cheyenne said, and she and Brian, the thief holding the gun, stole Molly’s shoes, watch, and Issa’s purse (Issa tried to give up her shoes, but Cheyenne told Issa to keep them because she didn’t want them).

From watching Issa Rae on “Insecure” a year ago to last Thursday, Jan. 22, seeing her as assistant curator Mae Eames in the 2020 film “The Photograph,” there were remnants of her “Insecure” character Issa Dee. 

In “The Photograph,” Mae falls in love with journalist Michael Block, played by LaKeith Stanfield. Michael found Mae through an old photo of her mother, famous photographer Christina Eames (Chanté Adams), who died from cancer, in Louisiana, while interviewing Isaac, an ex-lover of Christina’s, about his life post-Hurricane Katrina for a story he’s working on.

The film takes you through different parts of the past and present, with the past more of a backstory of who Christina was living in 1980s Louisiana. She fell in love with Young Isaac, played by Y’lan Noel, who starred in “Insecure” as Daniel, one of Issa’s love interests. Not only did she fall in love with Isaac, but she also fell in love with photography, and the latter became her passion, with dreams of photography being her career.

While living together, Isaac and Christina’s relationship becomes sour when Christina expresses dissatisfaction with being at home all day and desires to move out of Louisiana and to New York City to have a career in photography. Issac, stating that he doesn’t see himself up there, wants to marry Christina, to which Christina says she’s not ready for (and it’s not the first time she says this).

Christina ends up taking a bus to New York City, without telling Isaac, and lands a job as an assistant photographer. While in New York City, Christina finds out her mother passed away. When Christina returns to Louisiana to attend the funeral, she tells her friend that she’s going to visit Isaac, to which her friend tells her that Isaac got married shortly after Christina left. 

While taking photos of her and little Mae in her old home years later during a visit, Christina runs into Isaac. He invites her over to dinner to meet his wife, but Christina refuses. After giving Isaac a goodbye kiss on the cheek at the bus station, Christina broke down in tears as she and Mae sat in the waiting area, a moment that present Mae remembers.

I was thoroughly invested in Christina’s backstory in “The Photograph.” The short-lived romance between her and Isaac had great chemistry, despite the way their relationship ended. 

Meanwhile, as attractive as Michael and Mae were as a couple, their chemistry was too…awkward. 

When I mentioned earlier that there were remnants of Issa Dee in Mae, that’s what I meant: the awkwardness of it all. 

Michael was very much in love with Mae; there’s no denying that, but it was displayed in a dorky, corny way. 

Mae and Michael’s interactions throughout “The Photograph” gave off a “So…👀👀👀👀👀👀” vibe that confused me. 

As I was watching the film, I thought to myself, “Why are they acting like that?”

However, I was able to somewhat move past the stiffness of Mae and Michael’s romance, thanks to the hilarious comedic timing of Michael’s friend, Kyle, played by comedian Lil Rel Howery, who also starred in “Insecure” as Quentin.

The scene where Kyle roasts Michael for what he wore to Kyle and Asia’s wedding had joke after joke that were delivered so effortlessly that it cracked me up for a good five to ten minutes. 

The “big” reveal scene towards the end of “The Photograph” was underwhelming, but I had already figured out the truth well before the reveal. 

“The Photograph,” while cute and romantic, is an okay film. Despite my critiques of Michael and Mae’s relationship, their debate about Drake and Kendrick Lamar felt relaxed and genuine, which I liked a lot. Mae saying that listening to Kendrick makes her feel guilty did get a few laughs out of me.

It makes me wonder how Michael and Mae would’ve reacted to the Drake and Kendrick beef that took over 2024.

Rating: 3/5

(“Films With Tyra” is my new series on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, where I watch and review films on my Letterboxd watchlist)