Tonya Pinkins’ Thriller ‘Red Pill’ Puts A Frightening Lens On The 2020 Election

Dino-Ray Ramos
·2 min read

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EXCLUSIVE: With the current state of the social and cultural landscape, perception of race as well as political climate, the 2020 election is going to be one hell of a ride — and Tonya Pinkins’ (Fear The Walking Dead, Madame Secretary) forthcoming film Red Pill looks to deliver those thrills.

Written, directed, produced and starring Tony award-winning actress Pinkins, Red Pill has nothing to do with The Matrix, where a physical red pill is taken to reveal unpleasant truths. Based on the teaser trailer above for Red Pill, the title refers to someone who infiltrates a group and destroys them from the inside. The political thriller sets itself as a wake-up call about American politics, putting a haunting spotlight on the weaponization of whiteness and White Supremacy as well as the waves of “Beckys” and “Karens” calling the police on Black people for simply being Black.

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Red Pill is set days before the 2020 election as a group of progressive canvassers of all races drive to Virginia to get out the vote. As soon as they cross the state line it is clear they are not welcome. Distressing clues indicate that they should get out of their rental house while the getting is good. They decide to stay, armed with their heart, humor and naiveté — but what they really need is heavy artillery.

“I wrote my own personal Get Out,” said Pinkins, “#Uprising2020 is White people waking up to the world Black and Brown folks have always known. Black women are intimately familiar with ‘Becky’ and ‘Karen,’ White women, who on the low end of the spectrum treat us as invisible, and on the high end weaponize their whiteness and sometimes cost us our lives. Red Pill‘s #Karengonewild is a dose of what’s coming to America if liberal Whites don’t wake up.”

Pinkins stars in the film alongside Rubén Blades (Fear the Walking Dead), Catherine Curtain (Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things, Homeland), Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Colby Minifie (The Boys, Fear the Walking Dead), Luba Mason (Person of Interest, NYPD Blue), Jake O’Flaherty (Criminal Minds, Shameless) and Adesola Osakalumi.

Watch the teaser for Red Pill above.

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