Written and directed by Tayarisha Poe
Starring Lovie Simone, Jharrel Jerome and Celeste O'Connor
MPAA rating: R for teen drug content, and language
Running time: 1 hour and 37 minutes

by Benjamin Leonard, Best Boy

You know that feeling you get when you see a movie and it makes you excited to see what the filmmaker will do next? Selah and the Spades is the debut feature from writer/director Tayarisha Poe and it does just that. Her only other credit that you may be familiar with was still photography on 2016’s The Fits. Poe is a West Philly native that attended Swarthmore College for Film and Literature and has set her feature at a fiction boarding school (Haldwell) in the distant suburbs of the city. So, if for nothing else, you should check this out just to show your Philly pride.