The cast is stacked-the great Jeffrey Wright, Erika Alexander (love her from the Living Single days!), Sterling K Brown and everyone else are absolute pros who bring an ease to their performances that make both the satire and the drama shine. The movie is very funny while also spelling out the double binds black creatives face. To make a living, you usually have to appeal to white gatekeepers and audiences. This movie itself does that-there are plenty of laughs at the expense of obliviously offensive white folks, but none that cut to the quick. White liberals can laugh knowingly at this movie without feeling exposed or confronted. Perhaps this non-threatening approach will stimulate more self-reflection and change in the creative industries than something more critical would.

Issa Rae plays sort of a red herring of an antagonist in this movie. She, of course, knows all too well that black creators are pressured to always show black characters navigating white worlds (she specifically fought to stop doing that in Insecure, like by having Molly got to work for a black-owned firm). When American Fiction focusses on Monk and his family and girlfriend, we get to see them away from the pressure of having to react to white society. They're just a family dealing with family drama and their own flaws. The movie contains multiple layers and meta-narratives like this that all speak to the double binds that black folks have to deal with in so many aspects of life in America. It's fun to watch and meaty enough to stick with you.