What if Black boys in L.A. were afforded the grace to dream?

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In the soundtrack of his youth, Walter Thompson-Hernández and his friends liked to devise a crippled of escape. Extending their arms successful a v-formation astatine their side, they would contention down the thoroughfare connected play afternoons imagining the state of the airplanes soaring crossed the bluish infinity of their Huntington Park neighborhood.

Thompson-Hernández ne'er mislaid that consciousness of dreaming. This month, helium made his feature-length debut astatine the 2026 Sundance Film Festival with “If I Go Will They Miss Me,” a movie of audacious show and attentive storytelling that unfolds from the position of its protagonist Lil Ant, a Watts-raised, 12-year-old obsessed with airplanes and Greek mythology. Where coming-of-age stories often face the crush of innocence — the fracture and daze of stolen virtuousness — Thompson-Hernández alternatively renders 1 astir preservation. A preservation, successful part, held unneurotic by Lozita (Danielle Brooks), a ma and woman moving to support her household full present that Big Ant (J. Alphonse Nicholson) is location from prison.

The movie isn’t trying to sorb oregon recklessly reflector the traumas of the Black household truthful overmuch arsenic marque a lawsuit for its nuance. In “If I Go,” Thompson-Hernández scraps the three-act operation for thing much novelistic, a hazard that a lesser manager mightiness person fumbled but 1 helium turns into a profound taxonomy connected grace. It is simply a communicative that interrogates — with a searching and brutal tenderness — the how, wherefore and who of our affectional being. Even arsenic Lil Ant yearns to beryllium person to his father, what the movie doesn’t bash is beg you to empathize with the conditions that its characters warfare against; instead, it demands that you simply admit their presence, their wounds and their dreaming.

Thompson-Hernández’s cinematic canvas recalls a Los Angeles seldom afforded witnesser connected screen. You won’t find immoderate wasted reasoning astir the bushed pathologies of municipality decay; the movie takes pleasance successful depicting Black Angelenos successful the fullness of their complexity, celebrating the toil and wonderment of however radical travel unneurotic and autumn apart, of however emotion is breached and remade. “There’s already a lyricism that exists successful each of our lives,” helium tells me. “In however we speak, successful however our bodies determination done the world, and however we interaction each other. I’m delicate to that.”

Though contiguous helium chiefly works successful the mean of film, Thompson-Hernández has a kaleidoscopic attack to craft. A erstwhile writer for the New York Times, he’s arsenic comfy penning astir the bequest of Black cowboys successful Southern California (his 2020 book, “The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys successful America’s Urban Heartland,” was a New York Times bestseller) arsenic helium is directing a Beats By Dre commercialized for the Super Bowl oregon shooting a sports documentary for Netflix. In 2025, his Portuguese-language movie “Kites” — a communicative astir idiosyncratic reclamation successful favelas of Rio de Janeiro — won the Special Jury Mention for Viewpoints astatine the Tribeca Film Festival. What Thompson-Hernández’s creation truthful easy dispels, nary substance the genre it finds a location in, are each the knotty, misguided and trite representations of otherness successful our modern world. He is simply a seer of the unseen.

On acceptable of "If I Go Will They Miss Me"

(Vladimir Santos) (Kemal Cilengir)

Jason Parham: A large taxable successful the movie wrestles with what it means to find your spot astatine location erstwhile you return. Was that a idiosyncratic story?

Walter Thompson-Hernández: So overmuch happens to the figures successful our lives who question distant from america and yet travel backmost home. Thematically, this movie is astir formation and proscription — some the carnal flights that 1 takes, but besides the affectional and spiritual flights. Big Ant, the begetter [character], returns aft doing a stint successful prison, but what his lad sees arsenic a Grecian 10-year war. That’s been my narration to truthful galore of the men who I grew up around.

JP: How so?

WTH: They would beryllium gone for a portion and we wouldn’t cognize wherever they would be. Then they would conscionable amusement up aft 2 oregon 3 oregon 4 years. We’d inquire questions. It would be, “So-and-so was locked up” oregon “So-and-so had to spell distant for a portion but present he’s back.” Greek mythology became a North Star for knowing precise analyzable characters successful my ain life.

JP: Why was that consciousness of imaginativeness important to explore?

WTH: The aperture from which I lived my beingness was precise small. It was a precise contained satellite that lone existed astir a fewer geographic locations and a fewer blocks. Eventually I was capable to leave. But precise fewer of america get to marque it out. Which is simply a weird condemnation — get to marque it out — due to the fact that truthful galore radical privation to beryllium present and travel present each the time. But determination are those of america that got the accidental to question and to fundamentally fly. The older I got, the much I realized however tiny my satellite was arsenic a child, but besides however expansive and imaginative it was. In Ta-Nehisi Coates’s publication “Between the World and Me,” there’s a transition that I ever deliberation about. I’m paraphrasing, but helium tells his lad thing to the grade of — James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, those are yours. And past helium says Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky and Simone de Beauvoir — listing each these European artists and thinkers — those are besides yours. I’m extending that attraction and grace to the lad successful this movie. A batch of us, we don’t get to imagination successful that mode arsenic Black oregon brownish boys successful L.A.

On the acceptable of "If I Go Will They Miss Me"

On the acceptable of "If I Go Will They Miss Me." Thompson-Hernandez connected the right.

JP: What did young Walter imagination about?

WTH: Our location was close successful betwixt some LAX formation paths. The dependable of these airplanes is thing that I’ll ne'er forget. My ma and aunts inactive unrecorded successful that neighborhood. When I spell back, I hide however beardown the dependable of the airplanes are, however abrasive and all-encompassing. As a child, I was drawn to the enigma of them — wherever they were coming from and wherever they were going. I would ideate who was successful them. My friends and I, we made up games wherever we would contention airplanes connected our bikes oregon we’d sprint down the artifact extending our arms. They had this powerfulness implicit us. The movie is maine making consciousness of that enigma and quality portion besides knowing that I person asthma due to the fact that of them.

JP: You’re referring to the wellness complications radical endure from successful areas downwind of the formation paths.

WTH: Cancer rates and asthma are truthful prevalent among the radical who I grew up around. There is an irony successful airplanes. On 1 hand, we tin imagination astir them and each the places they tin instrumentality us, but the tangible effects are that they are harming us. Jet fuelers, each those things. As children, however bash we wrestle with those analyzable ideas, portion connected the crushed wrestling with analyzable ideas astir adolescence, astir our parents. To accidental increasing up nether the LAX formation way is simply a analyzable experience, there’s truthful overmuch information successful that. Taking the mythology of these airplanes and applying that to the mythology that we make astir adults successful our lives is thing that I anticipation radical truly consciousness successful this movie.

JP: There are a batch of astute method choices successful the film, from the dependable to the acceptable design. Who were your influences?

WTH: I could notation films similar “Killer of Sheep” oregon “The Battle of Algiers” oregon “Gummo” oregon “He Got Game”; there’s a database of astatine slightest 50 movies. But there’s thing astir looking astatine a Jacob Lawrence coating that offers maine the biggest inspiration successful presumption of the dexterity and state and elasticity of Black bodies successful space. There’s thing astir coating arsenic a mean for maine that lives extracurricular of the limits of photography and film. There aren’t a batch of barriers and boundaries to however painters acquisition the world. Whether it’s Jacob Lawrence oregon Henry Taylor oregon Winfred Rembert oregon Kerry James Marshall. I evidently survey literature, photography and film, but coating is wherever I spell for ideas astir framing and composition.

(Vladimir Santos)

JP: The movie plays with antithetic interpretations of light. How would you picture your narration to light?

WTH: I americium truthful drawn to earthy lighting. I’m drawn to diligent frames. Usually the framework is simply a mediate changeable oregon a wide shot. And there’s inserts and close-ups sometimes, but I consciousness precise assured successful the mode that we signifier and we artifact the scene. I consciousness assured that the accusation is gonna beryllium connected screen. When I was a writer astatine the New York Times, I didn’t conscionable constitute everything, I besides photographed everything I worked on. In presumption of creating a ocular language, I consciousness very, precise comfy framing and creating compositions successful film. A batch of times you ticker movies that consciousness over-lit. There’s excessively overmuch accusation that we are capable to gather. Working with our cinematographer, Michael Fernandez, we spot the assemblage truthful much, astir excessively much. If thing feels a spot darker, if thing is not lit successful a mode that feels a small excessively highly produced, I spot that idiosyncratic volition inactive beryllium capable to admit and find the information and honesty successful each frame.

JP: So overmuch truthful that L.A. begins to consciousness similar its ain character. Was determination a definite communicative — 1 that hasn’t been told astir the metropolis — that you wanted to illuminate?

WTH: So galore of america grew up watching ’90s L.A. movies: “South Central,” “Menace II Society,” “Friday.” All the Chicano gangster movies, “Blood In Blood Out.” There was besides “Heat.” There’s truthful galore movies astir Los Angeles successful the ’90s that truly got L.A. successful a mode that astir modern time movies astir Los Angeles don’t. Something happened on the mode wherever radical who weren’t from L.A. started to marque movies astir Los Angeles. It felt a spot tropey often. It created a checklist. “Oh, it needs a lowrider. It needs a thenar tree. It needs cleanable orange, fabric candy lighting.” It feels kinda corny, if I’m being honest. For a batch of us, I don’t person to archer you that this movie is acceptable successful L.A. You consciousness it, you perceive it.

JP: Yes, you perceive it. I appreciated however the sonic texture — whether it was a Nate Dogg way oregon vigor spots from Power 106 — helped crushed the spectator not lone successful what they were witnessing, but why.

WTH: Sonically, I’m having a speech successful this movie astir however this once-primarily Black assemblage acceptable successful Nickerson Gardens successful Watts was erstwhile implicit 90% Black, contiguous is implicit 80% Latino. Which is simply a existent speech astir change, astir however Black radical person been getting pushed retired for generations, but besides a analyzable communicative astir immigration. It’s not ever violence, there’s besides bid and each this different stuff. The mode I research that is done dependable and music. If you notice, this family, the Harris family, they perceive a batch of Spanish-language euphony coming from a neighbor’s home, coming from the outside. There’s a mentation of that that feels much soapboxy, wherever I’m telling idiosyncratic successful dialog oregon successful the country that this assemblage was erstwhile Black and it’s astir nary longer Black. For me, it conscionable felt much absorbing to perceive that. We’re proceeding a Mexican crystal pick motortruck and each these different things. That’s besides telling america that this household is experiencing demographic change.

JP: If we can, I privation to speech astir the authorities of Hollywood —

WTH: It was truthful hard to get this movie made, man. It was a challenge. If I’m being incredibly honorable with you, I deliberation determination was a tally opening successful 2020 oregon so, wherever a batch of radical felt the impulse and possibly unit to enactment movies made by women and radical of color.

JP: Without question.

WTH: And radical were supported successful ways that were incredible. But for 1 crushed oregon another, immoderate of those movies didn’t bash excessively well. They didn’t marque the wealth back, which we tin beryllium present and statement astir wherefore that happened. I tried to marque this movie astatine the process extremity of that tally of support. Everyone successful Hollywood loved the script. Everyone successful Hollywood loved me. Everyone said, “Hey man, we emotion this. And we emotion you truthful much. But we supported thing akin a twelvemonth oregon 2 agone and we’re not doing that anymore.” I heard that truthful much, and from radical that would astonishment you. Then, successful 2023, I got progressive successful the Sundance Catalyst program. The programme invites financiers to concern 8 autarkic movies. [“If I Go”] truly took a batch of enactment and a batch of effort from radical who believed successful maine and believed successful the script. It was an absorbing clip to marque an autarkic movie astir a Black household from Los Angeles.

JP: Does the world of manufacture person immoderate bearing connected the creation you privation to make versus the creation it’s acceptable for?

WTH: The creation that I privation to marque looks astatine humans making consciousness of their lives and the satellite successful a mode that possibly we haven’t seen before. There’s a batch of lyricism. There’s each sorts of things. I don’t cognize if I’m needfully reasoning astir the movie manufacture erstwhile I marque the creation that I make. People don’t cognize what they privation until they spot it, until they consciousness it. I ever accidental this: Sometimes you marque thing that exists in clip and sometimes you marque things that are of time. When radical are making things that are of time, it’s responding to the zeitgeist oregon weird ideas astir selling and what’s popular.

JP: What’s trending connected TikTok.

WTH: Exactly. It feels truthful reactionary. That’s of time. I similar to deliberation astir making things that are in time. In time, for me, is making creation that is successful speech with this beauteous bequest of artistry and of filmmaking. It’s making things without reasoning astir the moment. It’s reasoning astir information successful character, information successful dialogue, information successful scene, information successful composition, information successful sound. That’s what I’m reasoning about. I’m reasoning astir honesty. When it comes to my art, I ever privation to beryllium successful time.