They Cloned Tyrone – Unique and Fun

If I ever get cloned, just know I could win in a fight with him.

They Cloned Tyrone is a 2023 film released straight to streaming on Barbenheimer weekend. It’s a story of many genres, predominantly science fiction, comedy, and mystery, done through the lens of a Blaxploitation film.

The film follows Fontaine, a drug dealer played by John Boyega. He lives in a Black neighborhood called “The Glen” where he lives a repetitive lifestyle of selling drugs, schmoozing, and collecting his money. After gathering his debts from Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx) Fontaine is shot and killed by an unknown assailant.

The next day, Fontaine wakes up and lives through the same events as the day before, not remembering getting murdered. (Groundhog Day, anyone?) Slick Charles and Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris) are shocked when Fontaine shows up to collect his money again. They tell him they witnessed his murder, which of course he doesn’t believe.

I won’t continue to recap the plot (that’s only the first fifteen or twenty minutes) but just know it only gets wilder from there. The plot is good, but the tone and overall vibes of the film are better. Tonally, it reminds me of Sorry to Bother You, which is one of my all time favorites.

The humor here really works, I just wish there was more of it. The absurdist humor works really well, especially as the film goes on. Random elevators inside of vending machines? That’s exactly my speed.

I need to praise the cast. John Boyega brings vulnerability and humanity to his role. Jamie Foxx brings the humor, and Teyonah Parris gives a performance that will surely get her many more roles in the future. In addition to the core three, Kiefer Sutherland plays Nixon, the antagonist of the film. Hey, you can’t go wrong with Kiefer.

Visually, the film is great. First time(!!!!) director Juel Taylor puts a grain over the frame, indicating it was likely shot on film. This gives the movie an 80’s vibe that fits perfectly into the world of the film.

There are a few really good twists and fun moments. Some predictable, some not. Once act three starts, all bets, gloves, and expectations are off. It really takes on what it means to be Black in America. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

This is a great film and I wish I would have watched this sooner. I’d give it a score of eight Tyrones out of ten. If you have the opportunity to watch, give it a shot.