Test Pattern

Ends Thursday, March 25th

(USA / 2019 / Directed by Shatara Michelle Ford)

In response to discussions around inequitable healthcare, the #MeToo movement, and race in America, Test Pattern portrays the story of an interracial couple in Austin, Texas whose relationship is put to the test when Renesha (Brittany S. Hall) is victimized by sexual assault.

When they first meet, Renesha is a driven young woman working in corporate America who yearns for a more meaningful job, and Evan (Will Brill) is a tattoo artist with a large group of friends. Jumping forward, the film shows them living together in a bright, vibrant home where Evan cooks fantastic breakfasts, and where the two have a natural way of supporting each other’s life goals. When Renesha’s friend calls her out for a drink one night, Evan encourages her to go have a “girls’ night out.” Yet as the night wears on, she and her friend meet two men who make Renesha uneasy. Before the night is over, one of them slips her something on the sly, and she finds herself waking up in his hotel bedroom. When she returns home, she has trouble remembering what happened the night before, and in an effort to support her, Evan encourages Renesha to do what society says she should do: report it. When she does, she finds herself lost in the health care system, adrift in the criminal justice system, and unintentionally distanced from her partner.

What’s brilliant about Ford’s film is the way it develops its social commentary through delicate shifts in tone. At times gentle, at times humorous or incisive, Test Pattern pairs its characters’ actions — filling out forms, waiting, caring for each other, screaming over admittance counters – with creative music choices and inspired editing to the point that the act of choosing a seat in a hospital waiting room turns into a real-world ballet dance. Made “to provoke meaningful conversation about consent,” to “incorporate black female points of view,” “spark debate” and “create more nuance in the current discourse,” Test Pattern, like its title, encourages us to adjust our receivers and bring our world into better focus.

Unrated / 1 h 22 mins.