A Thousand and One movie storyline. In 1994, hairdresser and convicted thief Inez de la Paz is released from Rikers Island and returns to Brooklyn, where she sees her son Terry with other children from his foster home. When Terry is hospitalized after trying to escape from the home, Inez visits him. He tells her about his earliest memory: of Inez abandoning him on a street corner when he was two years old. Visibly shaken, Inez asks if Terry wants to come live with her. When he says yes, Inez abducts him from the hospital.
Inez and Terry stay at a variety of homes until she saves up enough money from a new job at a nursing home to afford an apartment. She arranges a false birth certificate and social security card for Terry so that she can enroll him in school, and reunites with an old boyfriend and fellow thief named Lucky. Though seemingly uncomfortable with the situation, he and Inez get married and he promises to take care of Terry.
In 2001, Inez still lives in the same apartment with Terry though her marriage to Lucky has become strained due to his long absences and infidelities. Terry excels at his schoolwork despite these problems at home and continual harassment from police, and is recommended for placement in a STEM-based specialized school. Terry does not want to go due to dreams of becoming a composer, but agrees to take the placement exam to satisfy Inez and Lucky’s wishes for him to have a better life than they have had. Inez fails to reconcile with Lucky, but he affirms his love for and support of Terry, which convinces Terry to go.
A Thousand and One is a 2023 American drama film, written and directed by A.V. Rockwell. The film stars Teyana Taylor, Will Catlett, Josiah Cross, Aven Courtney and Aaron Kingsley Adetola. Set in the 1990s and 2000s, it follows a single mother who decides to kidnap her son out of the foster care system to raise him herself, as the two struggle with life in a constantly changing New York City. It had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2023, and won the Grand Jury Prize. It was released on March 31, 2023, by Focus Features.
Released alongside His Only Son, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and the wide expansion of A Good Person, the film made $700,000 from 926 theaters on its first day, and went on to debut to $1.72 million, finishing in seventh.
A Thousand and One (2023)
Directed by: A.V. Rockwell
Starring: Teyana Taylor, Aaron Kingsley Adetola, Aven Courtney, Josiah Cross, Will Catlett, Terri Abney, Amelia Workman, Adriane Lenox, Gavin Schlosser, Alicia Pilgrim, Jennean Farmer
Screenplay by: A.V. Rockwell
Production Design by: Sharon Lomofsky
Cinematography by: Eric K. Yue
Film Editing by: Sabine Hoffman, Kristan Sprague
Costume Design by: Melissa Vargas
Set Decoration by: Lauren Crawford
Art Direction by: Zebah Pinkham
Music by: Gary Gunn
MPAA Rating: R for language.
Distributed by: Focus Features
Release Date: January 22, 2023 (Sundance), March 31, 2023 (United States)
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