American Fiction(2023)

Submitted by Jeremy

Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is a black author and professor forced to take a leave when his lectures on written works about race (one explicitly featuring the n-word in its title), so he returns to his hometown of Boston where his sister Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross) and their mother Agnes (Leslie Uggams) lives. Lisa dies of a heart attack, which prompts the return of their brother Cliff (Sterling K. Brown), who has gone through a divorce because his wife found out he is gay, and Agnes starts to suffer from Alzheimer’s.

Monk, whose previous books haven’t sold well, starts to write a stereotypically ghetto gangster story called “My Pafology” after seeing another black author, Sintara Golden, achieve success by writing a similarly stereotypical story. Monk’s manuscript sells after white publishers think it to be an “authentic” black story, but after feeling talked down to by the publishers, he tells them to change the book’s name to “Fuck”, which they surprisingly agree to.

The turmoil in Monk’s life involving his family takes a toll on him, particularly in his new relationship with a woman named Coraline, who breaks up with him due to his behavior. Monk is later invited to be a judge for the Literary Awards, where “Fuck” is considered for the grand prize. The book wins and is later set to become a major film, to Monk’s chagrin. He leaves the film studio after a meeting with producer Wiley, with Cliff trying to encourage him as he moves on in life.