Pariah

Adepero Oduye stars as Alike - a teen lesbian trying to figure out how to live her life. It's apparent to her entire family and friends, yet, no one is sure how to act. Her mother, Audrey (Kim Wayans), tries to push Alike towards being more feminine and traditional, while Dad, Arthur (Charles Parnell), seems to be more understanding, but confused and unwilling to completely accept Alike for who she is.

As Alike puts herself further out there and searches for true love, she meets Candace (Shamika Cotton), and decides she could be the one.

Writer/director Dee Rees skillfully (and without the heavy handedness of an after school special) makes Pariah a different kind of coming of age tale, but one full of touching, heartbreaking scenes. She combines several compelling subplots and themes about family troubles, parental expectations, trying to fit into a society, struggling to find identity and accepting those we love for who they are in ways that make Pariah about more than a teen confronting her sexuality.

Sure, that is the biggest story in Pariah, and one that delivers a punch because of Oduye's ability to show us the confusion, hope, and disappointment Alike feels. However, Rees also gives us some basic conflicts everyone can relate to, especially the painful love triangle that emerges and the battles between Audrey and Arthur that will sound familiar to anyone who has ever been married or in some dedicated relationship.

Rees could have done more to expand on the growing relationship between Candace and Alike, especially since it has such a sudden resolution, but Pariah proves to be more than the cliché and expected.

Pariah is rated R for sexual content and language