Beyond the Lights

Noni Jean is a young singer whose career has been shaped since childhood by an ambitious mother, and her first major award makes her a star. The public image she is expected to perform, however, has little to do with who she really is, and the strain of that contradiction brings her to a breaking point. She meets Kaz Nicol, a police officer assigned to her protection who is also being pushed toward a political career by his father. The two recognize a similar pressure in each other, and their growing relationship forces each of them to weigh personal happiness against the paths others have laid out.

Gina Prince-Bythewood directed and wrote the film, her third feature after Love & Basketball and The Secret Life of Bees. It stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Noni, Nate Parker as Kaz, Minnie Driver as Macy Jean, Machine Gun Kelly as Kid Culprit, Danny Glover as Captain Nicol and Aml Ameen as Trey, with a credited cast of 45 and crew of 78. The production, backed by Relativity Media, BET, Homegrown Pictures and Relativity Sports, was made for 7 million dollars and took about 15 million dollars worldwide.

On IMDb, the film holds 6.8 out of 10 from roughly 18,000 votes, and on TMDB it also sits at 6.8 out of 10, from 396 votes, so the two audiences are closely aligned.