A subdued take on the superhero film, Fast Color centers on a young woman named Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who suffers from intense, earthquake-inducing seizures that she’s struggling to control. Having been on the run from government scientists for years, she decides to return home to the mother (Lorraine Toussaint) and daughter (Saniyya Sidney) she previously abandoned, where she learns that unique “abilities” run in the family. Director Julia Hart, who co-wrote the script with her husband, Jordan Horowitz, struggles to balance the personal family drama with the super-powerful storyline—especially in a conveniently cathartic but confusing climax—yet she certainly delivers a striking mise en scene. During her seizures, Ruth sees streaks of colors, and Hart and cinematographer Michael Fimognari work this into the visual scheme. At one point they bathe Ruth in the soft red shine of a jukebox; at another they cast her with the green gleam of a glow stick. In the lead, Mbatha-Raw delivers a shaken, exposed performance that hints at the more familiar stories of domestic trauma (drug use, suicide, having to give up a child) that this otherwise super story might stand in for.
