Filmmaker Sixx King, hailing from the City of Brotherly Love, explores black love in the modern era with his third directorial effort, “Jonesing: When Love Is a Habit.” The film opens with our heroine, Simone Love (played by Aaria), scrolling through her phone and encountering news of her parents, a famous black power couple, breaking up.
The scene then transitions to a courtroom where attorneys Fox (Khalil Kain) and Davis (Shelby Hightower) are engaged in a deposition representing Simone’s parents. To take her mind off things, Simone has a girls’ night with her best friend and crosses paths with Myles (Kamaj Nixon Myers), a transfer athlete with his own emotional past.
Their connection is raw, magnetic, and potentially redemptive. Together, they explore what it means to love beyond illusions—through photos, poems, and vulnerability. However, as Simone’s work deepens, she grapples with the myth of forever and realizes that sometimes the most powerful stories are the ones we choose to rewrite.
Initially, some viewers were under the impression that the film was a direct sequel to “Love Jones,” but that is not the case. Instead, Director King presents a work that explores modern black love while keeping the spirit of the 1997 classic.
The film is a labor of love, as the director self-financed it. Oftentimes, even in films with big budgets, they fail to capture the allure of black skin. One of the first things I noticed was that King has an eye for the beauty of black skin, as the melanin shines throughout the film.
I also commend the director for using an unknown cast, as it allowed me to tap into their stories with earnest performances. The lead actors, Aaria and Kamaj Nixon Myers, convincingly portray their roles, and their courtship feels organic rather than forced or overly lustful. The supporting cast also delivers when needed, but never outshines our leads.
Similar to other black romance classics, music plays a significant role in the film. In addition to highlighting some of the cast members who feature on the soundtrack, King allows them to showcase their musical talents, while also incorporating a few R&B classics that tie into his narrative.
“Jonesing: When Love Is a Habit” kept me entertained, and viewers who approach it with the right expectations should find plenty of reasons to smile.
Final Grade: B
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Civil War dramas often measure valor through cannon fire and cavalry charges. However, “The Gray House*“valuates valor through coded messages, calculated risks, and the steady nerves of women who understood that information could be deadlier than any rifle. This eight-episode limited series reframes the conflict not from the battlefield, but from the drawing rooms of Richmond, where loyalty is performed, and survival depends on silence.
It’s been a month since I finished my first run at Sundance, and I’m finally getting the chance to see some of the films I missed as they began to premiere. One of those films is “In the Blink of an Eye,” which is available on Hulu. The film is directed by Andrew Stanton and written by Colby Day.