They Cloned Tyrone is a genre-bending gem. It combines Deep State conspiracy theories with sci-fi and social commentary, all while looking like a futuristic 1970s Blaxploitation film. It’s outrageous good fun and pleasing to look at (here is a film that knows how to properly light Black actors), but there are times when it feels too far fetched. The science can get wonky and its commentary on gentrification lacking, but all is forgiven when you have such a strong trio of leads. One of the smartest things They Cloned Tyrone does is pair Boyega with Teyonah Parris, who plays the call girl Yo-yo, and Jamie Foxx, who plays the pimp Slick Charles. They have a fun-loving no-nonsense chemistry about them that makes them easy to attach to and root for. They’re also just very funny, which might be expected of Foxx but it comes as a pleasant surprise for Parris, whose popular turns in Mad Men and WandaVision prove that she’s been severely underutilized as a comic.

The retrofuturistic look, which is never really explained in the movie. There could be multiple reasons why some characters look like they were fished straight out of the 1970s while some look more modern, but I want to believe it’s a reclamation of a contested era. Blaxploitation movies in the ‘70s were credited for centering Black characters, but they also doled out stereotype after stereotype as they still catered to a white-paying audience. But times have changed, and it seems that They Cloned Tyrone’s vibrant design is a nod to the movies that came before it, while its punchy plot and ambitious premise give us a taste of what’s to come.