R#J is a 2021 American experimental romantic drama film written by Rickie Castaneda, Oleksii Sobolev and Carey Williams, who is also the director. The film stars David Zayas, María Gabriela de Faría, Diego Tinoco and RJ Cyler. The film is a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet, 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 on January 30, 2021.
Cast
David Zayas as Fernando
María Gabriela de Faría as Nancy
Diego Tinoco as Tybalt
RJ Cyler 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 as Gregory
Francesca Noel as Juliet
DeShawn Cavanaugh as Abram
Matias Ponce as Young Fernando
Release
The film had its premiere in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021 in the Next section. It also screened at South by Southwest in March 2021, where it won the Adobe Editing Award.
Reception
R#J received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 14 as positive and 13 as negative for a 52% rating. Among the reviews, it determined an average rating of 6.4 out of 10. The critics consensus reads: "R#J represents an admirable attempt to update Romeo and Juliet, but alas, its bounty is not quite as boundless as the sea."