The Outside Story
**Seen at the 2020 Atlanta Film Festival.
Brian Tyree Henry is simply an engaging performer. Whether it’s in dramas like “If Beale Street Could Talk” or “Widows” or something that is a bit lighter like “The Outside Story,” we immediately latch on to his character as someone who is thoughtful and introspective, and endlessly interesting to watch. Writer-director Casimir Nozkowski uses that quality in Henry to great effect in his movie, wherein a man gets locked out of his apartment, and has to face the outside world on its terms rather than his own. It’s a very entertaining journey.
Charles, Henry’s character, is a video editor for TCM. What he specializes in are “In Memorium” videos for the recently-deceased, although he and his boss try to get them made beforehand so that they can be ready at a moment’s notice for the unexpected. When we first meet him, he is adding a new clip for one for an actor who is on his death bed, and he is sitting in his apartment, waiting for food he ordered. There are boxes packed throughout the apartment- his girlfriend is getting ready to move out. That will be the least of his problems today, however, when he locks himself out of his apartment after taking the wrong keys with him to get the delivery guy his tip. As he waits, and hopes, for someone to come let him in with a spare key, he starts to really see the world around him for the first time, and meet people around his apartment building.
The main trait about Charles that we learn is that he isn’t one to go out and hang out with people- he’d much rather stay in; part of that is in the fact that he is able to work from home, but- as we see in flashbacks of his early days with Isha (Sonequa Martin-Green)- he’s just naturally introverted. That makes it awkward for Charles to have to talk to neighbors in his building for the first time, and hope that he can gain access to the fire escape (to see if he is able to open his windows to let himself in) or charge his phone, which is slowly losing battery. The film is basically a “day out” movie, and it’s a charming one, not just because of Henry’s naturally warm performance but the supporting characters Nozkowski surrounds him with, with Sunita Mani (as parking officer Slater) and Olivia Edward (as neighbor child Elena) being two of the big stand outs in the cast. In the end, it all comes back to Charles, though, as he learns about what he is missing by just sitting in his apartment all day, content with take out. There’s a wealth of experiences he could be having, and that’s what makes life worth living. This is a delightful reminder of that.
