Pressure (2009)

Pressure: Directed by Abdu Dandridge. With Damion Lee, Chauncey Meeks-Owens, Andrea Bordeaux, Jose Abreau. This is a coming-of-age story about five teenagers growing up in Harlem, New York in the 1980s. It is the beginning of a new generation of kids called the “hip hop” generation, which unfortunately was growing up alongside the “crack cocaine” generation. Karon falls into a deep sleep after his graduation in 1985. His dreams within dreams take him into a realistic drama along with his potential future in the 1990s as a drug-selling youth. His fast money attitude serves as the detriment to the community and ultimately his best friends become caught in the crossfire of his illicit activity. He awakens back in 1985, realizing the “easy way out” that was offered wasn’t a glorious new beginning, it was the end.

“I am a huge fan of independent content, and u0026quot;Pressureu0026quot; sure did not disappoint. Karon, the protagonist of this perfectly written, produced, and directed film by Abdu Dandridge is faced with many choices in his young life with a finite conclusion. How he decides to act on the u0026quot;Pressureu0026quot; of those choices can and will be life-altering.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe antagonist is not necessarily a person. I see the antagonist as the decisions Karon chooses when faced with adversity – from the unrequited love for his father that makes him question the foundation of what family means, or financial challenges he and his mother faced throughout his young life, to the fidelity he has for his friends versus the need to make enough money just to get by while putting those friends in the tragic crosshairs of his choices – Karon must make tough choices that will define who he is at his core.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Pressureu0026quot; takes place over a decade during the 1980u0026#39;s crack cocaine epidemic in Harlem. As Karon graduates high school and has choices to make for his future, will he choose the easy way out of his current situation, or will he take the easier and potentially more destructive path? The choice is his to make, and the u0026quot;Pressureu0026quot; is all on him.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI highly recommend u0026quot;Pressureu0026quot; to anybody with the love of a well-written view of one personu0026#39;s life-altering decisions. I have to believe this story line comes from the writeru0026#39;s real-life perspective while coming-of-age with similar choices that could define his own life. u0026quot;Pressureu0026quot; is real. It is gritty. It can crush your soul and give you hope. Watch u0026quot;Pressure,u0026quot; and ask yourself what choices you would have made if you were in Karonu0026#39;s situation.”