Title: Ruth and Boaz
Director: Alanna Brown
Cast: Serayah McNeill, Tyler Lepley, Phylicia Rashad, James Lee Thomas
Genre: Romantic Drama
Duration: 91 minutes
Now showing on Netflix
Grace Kenganzi
Ruth & Boaz follows Ruth Moably (McNeill), a young artist retreating from Atlanta’s music scene after personal tragedy. She moves to Tennessee to care for Naomi (Rashad), her late partner’s mother, and soon meets Boaz (Lepley), a steady vineyard owner who offers the possibility of a new beginning. From here, the film unfolds as a romance story with the danger of Ruth’s past looming in the background.
As a love story, it works. Serayah and Lepley have warm chemistry, and Ruth and Boaz are an easy couple to root for. Rashad, wisely cast, is the standout. Her presence gives the film emotional weight, even when the narration feels a little too on-the-nose. Taken simply as a romantic drama, it is sweet and comforting in its simplicity.
Where the film falters is in its marketing. Pitched as a modern retelling of the biblical story of Ruth and Boaz, it never quite delivers on that promise.
The themes of loyalty and redemption are present in outline but rarely explored in depth. Instead, what emerges is a contemporary love story with borrowed names and loose inspiration. On that level, it is enjoyable, but anyone expecting a Scripture-rooted re-imagining will likely, nay, will be very disappointed.
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