''R#J'' is a 2021 American

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

romantic drama film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

written by Rickie Castaneda, Oleksii Sobolev and Carey Williams, who is also the director. The film stars

David Zayas David Zayas (born August 15, 1962) is a Puerto Rican actor. He is best known for his roles as Angel Batista on the Showtime series ''Dexter'' and Enrique Morales on the HBO prison drama series '' Oz''. Early life Zayas was born in Ponce, Pu ...

María Gabriela de Faría María Gabriela de Faría Chacón (born 11 September 1992) is a Venezuelan actress known for her work in South American television series. She is of Portuguese ancestry. Appearing most frequently in Nickelodeon shows, de Faria has starred as I ...

, Diego Tinoco and

RJ Cyler Ronald "RJ" Cyler II (born March 21, 1995) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' (2015), ''Power Rangers'' (2017), ''The Harder They Fall'' (2021), and ''Emergency'' (2022) as well a ...

. The film is a modern-day adaptation of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's romantic tragedy ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'', told through text messages, photos and videos on mobile phones and social media posts. The film had its world premiere at the

2021 Sundance Film Festival The 2021 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 28 to February 3, 2021. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 15, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Utah, the festival combined in-person screenings at the Ray ...

on January 30, 2021.

Cast

as Fernando *

as Nancy * Diego Tinoco as Tybalt *

as Benvo * Moe Irvin as Alcide Montague * Jacob Ming-Trent as Friar Lawrence * Emilio Garcia-Sanchez as Sampson * Camaron Engels as Romeo * Siddiq Saunderson as Mercutio *

Ricky Russert Ricky Russert (born July 22, 1983) is an American actor and producer known for his roles as Tommy Littlestone on the Cinemax original series ''Banshee'' and Shane Stant in the 2017 biopic ''I, Tonya''. Career On television, Russert has played C ...

as Gregory * Francesca Noel as Juliet * DeShawn Cavanaugh as Abram * Matias Ponce as Young Fernando

Release

The film had its premiere in the

on January 30, 2021 in the ''Next'' section. It also screened at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

in March 2021, where it won the Adobe Editing Award.

Reception

''R#J'' received mixed reviews from critics.

References

External links

* * {{Romeo and Juliet film adaptations American romantic drama films American independent films American avant-garde and experimental films 2021 romantic drama films 2021 independent films 2021 films Films based on Romeo and Juliet Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare Films about mobile phones Films about social media 2020s avant-garde and experimental films 2020s English-language films Screenlife films 2020s American films English-language independent films English-language romantic drama films