Patty Cake$

Patricia Dombrowski (Daniella McDonald) is a 23 year old woman from New Jersey who lives with her mother and ailing grandmother. An overweight woman nicknamed "Dumbo" in her community, she dreams of becoming a rapper alongside her friend Jheri (Siddharth Dhananjay). Enlisting the help of Basterd the Antichrist (Mamoudou Athie), an enigmatic mute with a talent for sampling, they form PBNJ, record a demo and attempt to take on the world.

On a personal level, it's nice to see a film based around a portly central character and McDonald's performance is the main reason to go and see this. As someone with a lot of creative struggles, I related a great deal to her character and my heart broke with her in one particularly devastating scene which demonstrates why you should never meet your heroes.

Director Geremy Jasper also had a role in the writing of the movie's original music which feels plausibly raw enough to come from newcomers but catchy enough to carry us along. The film rolls around to an inevitable conclusion but I still found myself moved by the big final performance. It's a story you'll have seen before (and comparisons to 8 Mile are inevitable) but Patty Cake$ adds enough charm and warmth to make it worth your while.

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