Netflix’s sci-fi action comedy film “They Cloned Tyrone” was a long time coming. It was shot in metro Atlanta in late 2020 and early 2021, but took two and a half years to arrive on screen.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with producer Stephen “Dr.” Love, a 2012 Morehouse College graduate, about shooting the movie near his alma mater.
“It was surreal and cathartic,” Love said. “A lot of areas we shot were in the West End not far from Morehouse where I used to do short little student films. I’d run around the neighborhood going to houses to shoot with no permits. Atlanta is my second home where I became a man.”
The movie focuses around grimly serious drug dealer Fontaine (John Boyega), opinionated pimp Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx) and ambitious prostitute Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris) who discover there is a federal cloning laboratory underneath a trap house. Is the government trying to control the populace? In this movie, you bet!
“We didn’t want this to be didactic or preachy,” Love said. “We aren’t even taking a stance. We just want to present a situation and present ideas, some of which are inspired by real historical facts [like the Tuskegee syphilis study and historically systemic redlining]. What does it mean when a culture is built upon pillars not controlled by that culture?”
Ironically, there were conspiracy rumors floating around the web that this film would never come out given how long it took Netflix to finally release it.
“It actually took quite a bit of time to put the finishing touches on it,” Love said. “We unintentionally built some amazing suspense for the movie.”
There is also buzz around Foxx, who is recuperating from an unspecified medical condition and unable to actively promote the film. But with the actors strike, he wouldn’t be able to market the film now anyway.
“If the only downside to the strike is that our actors can’t be on shows to talk about the movie, I’ll take it,” Love said. “There are bigger fish to fry that are necessary for this strike to happen.”
Credit: PARRISH LEWIS/NETFLIX
Credit: PARRISH LEWIS/NETFLIX
Here are five notable observations regarding the movie:
1) Time and place are blurred on purpose. “They Cloned Tyrone” is not set in a particular era or location. The neighborhood, dubbed The Glen, could be any struggling Southern urban slum. “We lean into anachronisms,” Love said. The characters use flip phones and the PCs, security cameras and TVs appear to be 1990s vintage. Slick Charles is dressed like a pimp from a 1970s blaxploitation film. Yo-Yo, who has a Pam Grier-esque afro, expresses an abiding love for Nancy Drew while also making references to blockchain and cryptocurrency.
2) Lead John Boyega plays multiple clones of his character Fontaine. “We needed someone who was relatable to the audience and you’d want to root for as a human being,” Love said. “John aligned with that. He also has the craft to be able to play different versions of himself. Some are similar and it takes real nuance to dial things to the left and right by just a notch. There are also drastic versions of Fontaine. You need a deep bag of skill sets to pull that off and John does it.”
Boyega, he said, even requested a treadmill in his room. Why? “He wanted to figure out different ways to walk for his different characters,” Love said. “That was his mindset.”
3) Comedic chemistry between Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris (“WandaVision,” “Survivor’s Remorse”): Their back and forth on camera is entertaining, but “in between takes, they also kept everyone entertained,” Love said. “We had to try to hold in our laughter during takes. It was hard for John to hold it together.”
4) Creating a special underground lair: There are “Clockwork Orange” elements going on below ground with crazy experiments in padded cells where men are seen fighting, then hugging each other depending on the musical track. “The people who work in this nefarious lab may be doing nefarious things, but they are just employees trying to cash a paycheck,” Love said. “It’s an office job. We didn’t want to make it seem super evil.”
5) Social commentary for conspiracy theorist lovers. If you think the government is doing experiments on you, this movie is for you. The fried chicken, perm cream and communion grape juice in “They Cloned Tyrone” are all means of mind control. “My sort of chief goal is to spark a ton of conversation in barbershops and beauty shops,” Love said.
IF YOU WATCH
“They Cloned Tyrone,” in movie theaters July 14, available on Netflix on July 21
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