From the opening moments of If I Go Will They Miss Me, it’s clear that writer-director Walter Thompson Hernández is more than just a filmmaker. He is a poet, and his feature debut is equal parts a sprawling odyssey of mythic proportions and a soft couplet scribbled in the margins. 

The film, adapted from Thompson-Hernández’s short of the same name, opens with Lil Ant (Bodhi Dell) recalling the story of how his father, Big Ant (J. Alphonse Nicholson), wound up in jail, as told to him by his mother, Lozita (Danielle Brooks). 

Thompson-Hernández unfurls the family’s history like a memory. His dreamy imagery is elevated by Daysha Broadway’s editing, making us feel as if we are sifting through these moments, holding them up against the reality of the present, and piecing them all together. The intricacies of this family are so clear that, when Big Ant returns home, we fully understand what his absence has meant.

The film hinges on the equal but opposite forces of Big and Lil Ant as they struggle to reconnect. Lil Ant frequently draws pegasi and his father as the Greek god Poseidon, much to his father’s dismay. There is a palpable pain for Big Ant as he cowers beneath the towering pedestal his son places him on.

The two are also consistently wrapped in the idea of flight. Lil Ant always plays with toy planes and looks up at the clouds, underscored by the growing hum of planes taking flight. Thompson-Hernández also incorporates haunting imagery of Black boys in white T-shirts running with their arms outstretched, referencing Black folklore about escaping slavery via flight. 

Thompson-Hernández understands escape can mean a lot of things. He examines Big Ant’s escape from the pressures he places on himself as he retreats from his family. His absence becomes louder and longer with every frame. 

Meanwhile, Lil Ant’s desire to escape feels more like an ascension that will allow him to reach his lofty dreams. In one particular scene, Lil Ant and a friend discuss where they would go if they could fly. Lil Ant simply says, “I think I would just fly.” The sky truly is the limit for him.

Dell is a wide-eyed revelation and completely sells you on the heightened way Lil Ant sees the world. Rarely does a young performer depict such interiority with simple looks, but Dell is dropped in with an ability well beyond his years. There’s a quiet sense of wonder that emanates from his body.

Despite his physical and emotional absence, Nicholson imbues Big Ant with a towering presence. He lives up to the deific image his son projects while simultaneously embodying the energy of a volcano waiting to erupt. 

Nicholson’s most impressive moment comes, though, in the brief moments Big Ant allows himself to imagine himself with wings. A switch flips, and we suddenly see a young man with a wild open road ahead of him. His face softens, his body lightens, and, for a minute, maybe he can live up to Lil Ant’s image. But, as quick as that switch flips on, Nicholson toggles it off, and his fear and insecurities return to the surface. 

Brooks serves as the true anchor of the film, just as Lozita is the foundation of her family. Caught between Big Ant, who is always trying to run, and Lil Ant, who is on the cusp of taking off, she tries with all her might to fill her home with as much love and stability as she can muster. Brooks leads with magnetizing restraint, yet still makes Lozita emotionally accessible. She is a calming and protective presence for her children, but we see flickers of doubt and aches for more flicker across her face. After her Oscar-nominated turn in The Color Purple (2023) and A Minecraft Movie (2025), it’s a reminder that Brooks possesses the range to occupy just about any genre and tone and tap into any level of performance, big or small.

Thompson-Hernández surrounds his three leads with a vibrant community, awash in a warm tone that reflects the warmth and love they pour into each other. While If I Go Will They Miss Me is awash in heightened, abstract imagery, the community at its core grounds it in a very honest, raw sense of reality. It all ultimately culminates in a story about real people who ache for more and how high they can fly when allowed to.

Review Courtesy of Adam Patla


Feature Image Courtesy of Rich Spirit via Sundance