‘They Cloned Tyrone’ Review: John Boyega, Teyonah Parris & Jamie Foxx In Grim But Gutsy Genre Mashup

deadline.com:

Rather resembling a blaxploitation-based cousin of Invasion of the Body Snatchers with a deeper sense of social consciousness, They Cloned Tyrone is a predominately grim yet intriguing account of constrained, little-hope lives victimized even further by nefarious secret attempts to transform them into obedient, well-behaved zombies.

Set in what appears to be the late ‘60s-early ‘70s based on the period cars, outfits and outlandish hairstyles, Juel Taylor’s feature directorial debut, which he wrote with Tony Rettenmaier, delivers live-wire performances from the young cast but nonetheless remains notably dire, even forlorn in its depiction of small-town lives momentarily confronted with a bizarre enemy found right in their midst.

This Netflix offering opens theatrically July 14 for a week prior to its move to home tubes July 21. “A pimp, a whore and a drug dealer walk into a bar….” This is the look and feel of things that describe the three low-lifers at the center of things in a small, dingy town — “a place lost in time,” one local says — where everything and everyone has seen better days, with the result that most of the observed citizens appear to be dirt poor and drunk before noon.

Doing little better are Fontaine (John Boyega), a tough, fancily coiffed hustler whose abiding interests are shooting off both his mouth and gun on a daily basis, a guy still eagerly looking for his Big Chance, and YoYo (Teyonah Parris of Mad Men), a hyper-lively “working girl” with a gift for colorful gab.