Medicine for Melancholy (2008) [The Criterion Collection]

Director: Barry Jenkins
Writers: Barry Jenkins
Stars: Wyatt Cenac, Tracey Heggins, John Thurgood

Barry Jenkins’s captivating debut feature, Medicine for Melancholy, is a lo-fi romance that unfolds against the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco. There, a one-night stand between two young bohemians, Micah (Wyatt Cenac) and Jo’ (Tracey Heggins), spins off into a woozy daylong affair marked by moments of tenderness, friction, joy, and intellectual sparring as they explore their relationships to each other, the city, and their own Blackness. Shooting on desaturated video, Jenkins crafts an intimate exploration of alienation and connection graced with the evocative visual palette and empathetic emotional charge that have come to define his work.

Extras:
- New high-definition digital master, approved by director Barry Jenkins and director of photography James Laxton, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- New audio commentary featuring Jenkins
- Audio commentary from 2008 featuring Jenkins, producers Justin Barber and Cherie Saulter, and editor Nat Sanders
- New program about the making of the film, featuring Sanders and actor Wyatt Cenac
- Camera test footage and blooper reel
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing