Test Pattern (2021)

By: Mike Ward on Saturday, February 27

R Running Time: 82 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

For those looking for new voices in filmmaking, Shatara Michelle Ford is one well worth investing the time in, if Test Pattern is any indication of what she brings to the table.
The writing here is exemplary; a rather incredible balancing act of so many vital and important issues in our society - clearly, concisely presented in 82 minutes.
This is a small but mighty film and worthy of any and all praise sent its way.

NO

The film’s subject matter, though handled delicately and responsibly, might be a trigger for those who have gone through a similar situation.
It’s interesting that male critics have referred to the film as “didactic” and “not fully realized.”
If you only watch movies for big budgets, visual effects, and those titles existing comfortably in the mainstream, Test Pattern is never crossing your radar in the first place.

OUR REVIEW

We are just a couple of months or so into 2021, but the feature-film directorial debut of Shatara Michelle Ford is one I will be thinking about all year long. Test Pattern is a fascinating, maddening, intense drama about a woman recalibrating everything she knows when her figurative voice is taken away from her after suffering a sexual assault. Ford, who also wrote and co-produced the film, finds a way to balance several different themes and conversations into a brisk 82 minutes that leaves you wrestling with a lot of questions and emotions once the end credits begin.

Renesha (Brittany S. Hall) has recently shifted careers to work with the Humane Society, leaving behind a beautiful apartment in the city to build a life with boyfriend Evan (Will Brill), a tattoo artist. Evan makes her breakfast every morning, they have settled into a life together, and things seem to be going well.

After her first day at her new job, Renesha is begged by best friend April (Gail Bean) to go out for drinks. Evan encourages her to go and once at the bar, April warms to the advances of Chris (Ben Levin) who, along with best friend and business colleague Mike (Drew Fuller), are celebrating a lucrative business deal. Renesha humors Mike and then is coaxed, out of obligation to April. into dancing and more drinks.

The next morning she wakes up in Mike’s bed. She panics, unsure of how she ended up there or what may have taken place. Ford allows us to see what Renesha cannot remember and when Mike takes her home, he drops her off in the middle of her street to walk the rest of the way home to a worried and panicked Evan.

Test Pattern then uses the horror of Renesha’s experience to catapult her into numerous encounters where her voice and existence as a woman are either intentionally, or unintentionally, disregarded. Evan’s response to what Renesha remembers about the night in question leads to his desire to fight for his girlfriend’s dignity. He becomes a vigilante with his voice and rage as a weapon, demanding a “rape kit” from multiple clinics around the area.

Whether it is because Renesha and Evan are an interracial couple, the aggressiveness of Evan’s demeanor, or Renesha being a Black woman – resistance arrives in every interaction. This is where Test Pattern becomes such a powerful viewing experience.

We are not merely watching one story about a woman trying to find treatment for sexual assault. Instead, we are watching the way the request for help is handled. The lack of medical services available for victims of sexual assault seems borne out of judgment and less about need. Eventually, when Renesha can sit down with a nurse, she is so tired and defeated from the stress and anxiety of the day, she politely walks through the steps of the nurse’s inquiries. Compelled to honor the good intentions of the nurse, Renesha nonetheless has never been allowed the opportunity to process everything that has happened.

Does she even want the exam now? Who is she doing this for? How many women face resistance when they need help and simply give up, if they had the strength and resolve to even move forward with seeing a doctor so soon after a sexual assault has taken place?

Another aspect that Ford brilliantly explores is the way we sacrifice ourselves to belong in the comforts of a romantic relationship. Renesha moves into Evan’s humble home. She gains more and more tattoos the longer they remain together. At one point, Evan jokes that his tattoos are his “brand.” Is he joking, or does this reframe the aggressiveness with which he demands Renesha receive medical treatment?

Hall’s performance is powerful, an internalized slow-burning examination of her life and what she thought she knew about herself and her relationships. And yet as good as she is here, I cannot shake Ford’s instincts as a filmmaker. This is a focused, brave and uncompromising film with Ford a major discovery.

Test Pattern is illuminating, eye-opening, and one of 2021’s first great films.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Brittany S. Hall, Will Brill, Gail Bean, Drew Fuller, Ben Levin, Amani Starnes

Director: Shatara Michelle Ford
Written by: Shatara Michelle Ford
Release Date: February 12, 2021
Kino Lorber

For those looking for new voices in filmmaking, Shatara Michelle Ford is one well worth investing the time in, if Test Pattern is any indication of what she brings to the table.

The writing here is exemplary; a rather incredible balancing act of so many vital and important issues in our society - clearly, concisely presented in 82 minutes.

This is a small but mighty film and worthy of any and all praise sent its way.

The film’s subject matter, though handled delicately and responsibly, might be a trigger for those who have gone through a similar situation.

It’s interesting that male critics have referred to the film as “didactic” and “not fully realized.”

If you only watch movies for big budgets, visual effects, and those titles existing comfortably in the mainstream, Test Pattern is never crossing your radar in the first place.