Marya E. Gates Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2024

Examines not just the broken medical system in Texas, but also toxic masculinity, the murky waters of consent, and the power dynamics in interracial couples - especially between Black women and white men.

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Mitchell Beaupre Awards Radar Sep 22, 2022 4/4

Everything in Test Pattern comes back to that idea of authenticity, exemplified by the neorealist approach that Ford takes to putting us through the motions with these characters.

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Marlow Stern The Daily Beast Jan 4, 2022

Those words by late civil-rights leader Malcolm X reverberate throughout filmmaker Shatara Michelle Ford's white-knuckle debut...

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Alan Zilberman Washington City Paper Dec 29, 2021

It is not a "message" movie; instead it depicts the gulf between one man's desire to help his traumatized girlfriend, and how she internalizes the realization...

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Jared Mobarak Jaredmobarak.com Dec 17, 2021 7/10

[Healthcare is] a willfully malicious system meant to dissuade, demoralize, and dehumanize women. And Ford pushes [things] even further [with society's role too].

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Ali Arkani Film Threat Dec 16, 2021 8/10

The radiant performances and intense emotional eruptions make it a must-see for those who love thrillers.

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Josh Larsen LarsenOnFilm Nov 22, 2021 3/4

A strong, sobering writing-directing debut...

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Betsy Bozdech AWFJ.org Nov 9, 2021

There are no easy answers for Ranesha and Evan in Test Pattern - which, along with Hall and Brill's convincing performances, makes it all the more realistically painful.

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Carolyn Mauricette View From The Dark Apr 24, 2021 3.5/5

We need to support directors like Ford who won't give up, who cover intense subject matter from a point of view that is seldom seen.

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Gisela Savdie Letra Urbana Mar 31, 2021

A subtle, and smart way of revealing feelings of love, but also anger and frustration [Full review in Spanish]

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Eileen G'Sell Hyperallergic Mar 22, 2021

It offers, via clever framing and graphic matches, a subtle indictment of whiteness and institutional power.

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Filipe Freitas Always Good Movies Mar 21, 2021 3.5/5

A heart-rending drama whose conclusion leaves a terrible taste in the mouth.

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Joshua Brunsting The CriterionCast Mar 20, 2021

Test Pattern is an incredibly taut narrative despite a non-linear structure, with jumps in time feeling natural because Ford has complete control over their story.

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Edwin Arnaudin Asheville Movies Mar 10, 2021 B

Bracingly exposes the inadequate system currently in place to address sexual assault.

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Alex Heeney Seventh Row Mar 9, 2021

Ford deftly manages... ambiguity, offering a narrative about sexual assault in which the assault itself is not what potentially tears a couple apart, but how they deal with the aftermath, in a world where justice is hard to come by.

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James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk Mar 8, 2021 3.5/4

shifts between present and past to punctuate the emotional and relational impact of the assault and to highlight how such an event forever alters our perception, even of those we love.

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Lisa Trifone Third Coast Review Mar 6, 2021 2.5/4

Test Pattern marks Ford's feature film directorial debut (she also wrote the script) and the film, to a certain degree, shows it.

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Monique Jones Common Sense Media Mar 4, 2021 5/5

This drama takes razor-sharp aim at the health care system and the police by putting their penchant for bureaucracy in full relief.

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Michael Ward Should I See It Feb 28, 2021 4.5/5

Test Pattern is illuminating, eye-opening, and one of 2021's first great films.

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Tom Meek Cambridge Day Feb 27, 2021 2.5/4

It's here that the characters become more than cutouts, and there's real depth and affecting agony...

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