Marina and Nicco’s film This Will Never Work is one of those films that you go into thinking it’s going to be about one thing, but then it shifts into something completely unexpected. With a cast of eight individuals leading the charge, it’s an hour and a half filled with just the right amount of drama and comedy that tackles the not-so-happy subject of generational trauma.
What was thought to be an intervention quickly turns into a family therapy session, where everyone is forced to face things, they may never have had to if they hadn’t been confronted with them. This Will Never Work centers on a Black family’s intervention for their loved one, Amanda (Amandla Jahava), who has a drinking problem.
Her mother, Linda (Portia), has gathered the family, which includes Amanda’s older sister Julia (Marinda Anderson), younger brother Bill (Jerimiyah Dunbar), her Uncle Earl (Ron Canada), and Majd (Usama Siddiquee), her brother by proxy. However, when their therapist, Trevor (Peter Grosz), realizes they’ve misled him, things go off the rails. He opts to shut the intervention down, but with the gloves now off, everyone takes the opportunity to let out past grievances. As tensions explode, buried family secrets surface through conflicting memories and heated confrontations.
More: If you think this family has issues, read our review of the Screamfest film The Weekend.
It’s rare to find a film featuring a Black family that focuses on how they deal with generational trauma. Getting therapy is taboo for Black people. You’re not supposed to spill your guts to a stranger, especially about your family. That’s too much like telling the world about your business. That’s why Marina and Nicco’s choice to have Linda essentially dupe a therapist into showing up was genius.
The dupe speaks to how much a Black family would rather not let someone know there is family drama. Which is interesting because choosing to say that your child has an addiction problem is crazy work. As if that’s an easier pill to swallow than saying “our family is strained because we’re not getting along.” Apparently, that’s what Linda thinks. Amanda is angry about this. And rightfully so.
As This Will Never Work unfolds, we dig deeper into the things that Amanda, Julia, and Linda have been clinging to. The things that have made it difficult for them to have a strong relationship. Each of the women has faced their own private battles, and their session with Trevor opens old wounds. Amanda and Julia have tried to be the model daughters for Linda, but it’s become too much for them. Amanda wants to break away and move out of the state, but she’s also kept a big secret from her mother. It’s literally life-altering. And it’s a choice that created even more tension between Amanda and Julia. All based on an expectation she was unaware Julia was even placing upon her.
More: Read our review of Doin’ It, another film about generational trauma.
Julia’s facing a battle of her own as well. While in a two-year relationship with Rachel (Sarah Stiles), her partner, her family hasn’t even truly met until the day of the intervention. Which is weird considering they’ve been in the same room at the same time before. That speaks to the fact that Amanda is not the only one feeling a strained relationship with her mother. Julia’s choice not to introduce Rachel to her family felt as if she were trying to keep her safe from the family trauma rubbing off on her.
Linda, who is the professor extraordinaire, is polished and has high expectations. Those expectations stem from her thinking about what it was like, essentially being a single mother. Sure, she did have her children’s fathers in her life for a bit, but she also spent a lot of time raising them alone. We will never fully know the sacrifices our mothers make for us. They don’t share every detail.
As a Black woman, trying to get information from my own mother sometimes feels like pulling teeth. There is a need and an illusion to maintain the “Strong Black woman” façade because we are not supposed to show vulnerability. Vulnerability puts us at risk. And that’s what Linda was afraid of for her daughters. But what she learns is her trauma has found its way to them.
There’s a line she says in the film when speaking about carrying both Julia and Amanda inside her before they were even formed that is so powerful, and it really stayed with me: “I don’t think you could hear me then, but it must have done something to you. The things that I learned, the people that I knew, the screaming that I did, the shouting that I did. You must have absorbed it somehow, like someone shouting in another room.” You see, Linda believes that no matter how hard she worked to shield her daughters, there must be something she did wrong to alter their lives.
It’s in this moment that Amanda and Julia realize their mother does feel things. And she does have her own past hurts to work through. When the film ends, everything is not wrapped into a neat little bow to say, “We made it.” It ends in a way to show the audience that the journey to work through their trauma together will still be a battle. But the fact that all three of them were able to finally see each other, and I mean really see each other, was incredibly important.
This Will Never Work is a very enjoyable film. Though it’s heavy at times, there is a lot of comic relief that comes from Canada when Uncle Earl throws in his two cents with his tough love advice. I will say, while I did enjoy the movie, I felt we didn’t get enough of Bill’s story.
The moment Bill reads his intervention letter, and Trevor sort of picks up on the emotion of it, it’s clear that he’s got some things to work through. That is an authentic portrayal of the experience of a Black man. Black men are told not to cry and to man up. That’s what Bill always tries to do. Majd was the only one to notice that, like Amanda, Julia, and Linda, he’s also not okay. Though his mom and sisters didn’t see it, Majd, taking the time to let Bill know it is okay for him to express his emotions, was something he needed to hear.
This Will Never Work is a relatable film. You don’t have to be Black to understand it because it’s ultimately a family story. It’s about how family navigates moments when they are not coming together as they should. Every one of us can see ourselves in these people. The cast delivers amazing performances from start to finish. And even after the film ends, it will have you thinking about your own experiences. And sometimes a film like that can be helpful in more ways than you realize.
Check out This Will Never Work at an encore screening for the Calgary International Film Festival on September 28, 2025. It will also be showcased at the SoHo International Film Festival on October 12th, and the Dumbo Film Festival from the week of November 19th through the 23rd.
