AMERICAN FICTION is a newly released dramedy based on the book ERASURE, written by Percival Everett back in 2001. I loved this movie. It actually has two main focuses. One is about black literary professor and author Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffery Wright), who is trying to get his latest book published. Frustrated and tired of how society only seems to praise "black books" that focus on negative stereotypes, he writes a book that does exactly that, as a joke. Let's just say the joke goes very far. The other focus is on Monk's family life. Coming home after being somewhat estranged, he is immediately drawn into drama. First time director Cord Jefferson expertly weaves these two focuses together to make a cohesive, satirical, relatable, and thought-provoking story that is absolutely fantastic to watch. It perfectly blends humour with some deep emotions, which is most often a tightrope walk. He brought out great performances across the board: Jeffery Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae, Leslie Uggams, and more. This is one of the smartest comedies I've ever seen, and it makes me want to read the book. It would be ironic if the book was on some "Banned book" list somewhere. This movie has already garnered a few Golden Globe nominations, and I won't be surprised if it gets a few Oscar nominations too. I wish AMERICAN FICTION was shown at more movie theaters, but it should be coming to Amazon Prime later down the road. After all the movies I saw in this past year, this one just might break my top ten.