Loving

Virginia, USA, 1958. Mildred and Richard Loving are pulled from their marital bed by the local police and arrested. The reason: He is white, she is black. An absurd charge from a contemporary point of view, but a very real law in the American south in the middle of the 20th century. Director Jeff Nichols tells the true story of the Loving couple, who had to go to court to be able to live together as man and wife.

The essence of Loving is undeniably political, but what makes Nichols’ film so moving is how it places Mildred and Richard’s daily life at the center of the drama: It is their love for each other that keeps them going as they battle against the injustice done towards them. Ruth Negga was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Mildred (in a very strong year for female leading roles), and both she and Edgerton deliver impressive performances. They communicate through actions, looks and gestures rather than through words, and their unique chemistry as a couple really comes across to us.

Loving is an intelligent and intimate film, without excessive gestures or huge outbursts of emotions. This is a film about standing tall and facing hatred head-on, unflinchingly, armed with love as your only weapon. MWV

Jeff Nichols (b. 1978) is an American director and screenwriter. He made his feature film debut with the poetic drama Shotgun Stories (2007) which won critical acclaim. He has, since then, moved between many different genres; psychological drama in Take Shelter (2011), a coming-of-age film with Mud (2012) andscience fiction in Midnight Special (2016).