The Reckoning Interview: Gabrielle Union, Elegance Bratton Peel Back The Curtain on LGBTQ Abandonment and Perseverance in 'The Inspection'

On November 18, writer and director Elegance Bratton's "The Inspection,"
starring Jeremy Pope, Raúl Castillo, and Aaron Dominguez, with Gabrielle
Union and Bokeem Woodbine, will hit theaters across the country in limited
release. Bratton ("Pier Kids," "Buck"), who is openly gay and a former U.S.
Marine, has written and directed an epic American drama that is
unapologetically Black and queer. These two ingredients would have almost
ensured a mainstream film to be dead on arrival before the 2017 Best
Picture Oscar win for "Moonlight."
Inspired by actual events, "The Inspection" tells the story of Ellis French
(Pope), a young Black gay man rejected by his mother, Inez French (Union),
because of his sexual orientation. After being kicked out of the family
home, French is thrust into homelessness in New York City. With few options
for his future, he joins the Marines to win his mother's love. In the era
of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the former discriminatory policy prohibiting
out LGBTQ service members, French faces the grueling requirements of boot
camp, blatant homophobia, and an unrelenting determination to succeed.
Six years in the making, Bratton tells The Reckoning, "The Inspection"
began as part of the narrative of a planned autobiography that he
ultimately decided to shelve. He credits his husband and producing partner,
Chester Algernal-Gordon, for encouraging him to bring his life story to the
big screen.
"You need to tell a story that brings audiences to a place they could never
go unless you take them there. It has to be really personal," Bratton
recalls Algernal-Gordon saying to him at the time. "He insisted that The
Inspection would be the one that would change our lives."