What happens when an author fulfills every stereotype expected of him – just to show how absurd those expectations are? American Fiction is a biting satire about identity, prejudice, and who controls the narrative. A film that makes you laugh and think.
The college professor and author Thelonious “Monk” Ellison is too sophisticated to write the kind of literature people expect from an African American author. Almost out of cynicism, he writes a book packed with every Black stereotype. A ghetto story, even though he’s never lived in one. As a joke, his agent sends it out under the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh – and the publishers love it, rewarding him with a big advance. Reluctantly, but needing the money for his mother’s round-the-clock care, he accepts the deal for a book he despises.
We watch Monk, who comes from a family of doctors, as he pretends to be the undercover author stereotype – only to fall back into old habits, like ordering Sauvignon Blanc.
Based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett, the film won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival 2023, five AAFCA Awards in 2024, received five Oscar nominations, and won Best Adapted Screenplay. Deservedly so.
From clever layering techniques – characters enacting Monk’s writing while questioning his text – to a brilliant ending with three versions, each plausible, American Fiction cleverly explores storytelling, identity, and expectations.
Until 24. February for free at Amazon Prime Germany.