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United Kingdom · 2019
1h 38m
Director Shola Amoo
Starring Sam Adewunmi, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Layo-Christina Akinlude, Rasaq Kukoyi
Genre Drama
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Following a peaceful childhood in rural Lincolnshire, Femi, a British boy of Nigerian heritage, moves to London to live with his birth mother in the inner city. After spending years in the new and unfamiliar culture, Femi finds himself standing before adulthood, struggling to find a path for himself.
While The Last Tree is not a happy story nor a political one, it is a real account of immigration with no easy answers. Watch it because it is an honest tale, and Amoo’s masterfully handling of it puts you directly into the shoes of Femi himself.
While comparisons to Moonlight are not without merit, The Last Tree bucks the coming-of-age blueprint in new, specific ways.
San Francisco Chronicle by G. Allen Johnson
I don’t want to give too much away, but Amoo’s direction is strong, and his film moves in unexpected directions. Stil Williams’ cinematography is divine. Adewunmi and Ikumelo are excellent, and kudos to Pinnock, Tai Golding as young Femi, Denise Black as the foster mom, Demmy Ladipo as a gang leader and Ruthxjiah Bellenea as a potential love interest who shares Femi’s love for the Cure.
The New York Times by Lovia Gyarkye
The film feels at times like it is trying to take on too much — plotlines are rushed, relationships feel unearned or not explained. Still, I can’t help but be impressed by Amoo’s attempts to direct a familiar narrative with such a complicated set of questions.
Austin Chronicle by Marjorie Baumgarten
Rich with technical strategies that enhance our view into Femi’s emotions, The Last Tree uses slow-motion, diffused sound, and many Spike Lee-like camera shots to make the story extremely personal and unique.
The Observer (UK) by Mark Kermode
Akinola (best known to some for his work on Doctor Who) is clearly completely in tune with the director, getting under the skin of his story and striking just the right note of internalised anguish and ecstasy that defines this tender, heartfelt and clearly very personal movie.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
It’s a charismatic performance from Adewunmi, and Amoo’s camera often comes in close to his face and his gaze, suggesting that Femi is on the verge of some kind of epiphany or vision – and it’s nothing to do with the drugs.
The gap between storytelling and story is rarely as wide as in The Last Tree, a coming-of-age drama that is rapturously shot and dramatically trite.
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