Movie Review

All Day and a Night tells familiar story with little unique flair

Although there are always exceptions to the rule, one’s circumstances growing up often dictate where he or she will end up in life. We are all products of the neighborhoods we grew up in, how wealthy or poor our families were, and the types of jobs our parents had, among many other factors.

The new Netflix film All Day and a Night explores the upbringing of one particular African American boy, Jahkor (Ashton Sanders), and the impact it had on him. The film starts with Jahkor murdering a drug dealer over an unknown past slight, and proceeds to go back and forth in time to show various moments in his younger years and his time in prison after being convicted for the killing.

Written and directed by Joe Robert Cole (co-writer of Black Panther), the film posits that Jahkor essentially never had a chance at escaping his current fate. His father (Jeffrey Wright) was a drug user and never missed an opportunity to teach a lesson to Jahkor through violence. His only role model was a drug dealer named Big Stunna (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), and his best friend, TQ (Isaiah John), became an underling for another dealer.

But Jahkor has a constant struggle between the angry man he has become and the type of person he wants to be. He has a baby with Shantaye (Shakira Ja’Nai Paye), and most of his moments with her show a different side than he puts on display with everyone else. He also has dreams of becoming a rapper, but he has limited resources for pursuing that goal.

It’s difficult to tell the overall point that Cole is trying to make with the film. It’s certainly not news that many African Americans are susceptible to violence and drugs because of innumerable historical factors. Cole never seems to find a way to distinguish the story from other similar ones that have come before.

Jahkor’s tale, while tragic on its own, doesn’t resonate in a way that would make it seem worth telling over that of any other similar character. Save for a few small moments, Jahkor has a one-note personality and rarely displays anything that would make him worthy of redemption.

Sanders, who impressed as Chiron in the Oscar-winning Moonlight, certainly has a presence to him, but his performance seems to be in service of very little. Wright is a great actor, but he seems miscast both in age and temperament for his role. The most magnetic persona is Abdul-Mateen II, but he has relatively few scenes in which to show his talent.

All Day and a Night takes place in a part of society that many of us will never know. While Cole does a great job of showing how dark and depressing that way of life can be, the film fails to give any true insight on why it’s that way or how it can be changed.

Ashton Sanders and Jeffrey Wright in All Day and a Night.

Ashton Sanders and Jeffrey Wright in All Day and a Night

Photo by Matt Kennedy

Ashton Sanders and Jeffrey Wright in All Day and a Night.

setting the bar high

Playful Dallas neighbor tops America's best parks list for 2026

Glen Meadows Park in Plano

Plano Parks and Recreation/Facebook

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Plano and its stellar parks have set a new record in 2026 as the 13th best park system in the country — and the No. 1 best in Texas, according to the just-released ParkScore Index.

Every year, land conservation nonprofit Trust for Public Land rates the park systems in the 100 largest American cities with regard to their accessibility, equity, acreage, investment, and amenities.

Plano's No. 13 ParkScore ranking is a new all-time high for the Dallas suburb; it appeared 17th nationally in 2025, ranked 16th for the two years before that, and was 15th in 2021 and 2022.

The majority of Plano residents (85 percent) live within a 10-minute walk of a park, compared to the 76 percent national median. About 10.5 percent of land within the city limits is dedicated to parks. The city also spends far more to maintain its park system — about $228 per resident — than the national median $198 per resident.

Plano Park - Arbor HIlls Nature Preserve Dallas suburb sets new record for best parks in the U.S. Plano Parks and Recreation/Facebook

The city's hard work is paying off: in March, Plano Parks and Recreation reopened Glen Meadows Park after extensive renovations, which included a new pavilion, updated playground, more seating, and new trails.

Another Dallas-area neighbor that deserves high praise is Irving, which Trust for Public Land said was the nation's biggest gainer this year. Irving's park system jumped 28 places, from No. 99 last year to No. 71.

"Irving’s rise was driven by increased investment from the 'Let’s Play Irving' initiative, which funded several important projects scheduled for completion in 2026 and 2027," a release said.

Dallas proper ranked 38th this year after previously ranking 34th in 2025.

"Over the past 10 years, Dallas has connected an impressive 330,000 residents to a park, trail or greenspace within a 10-minute walk of their home, and the city is poised to make further progress next month, when it opens the Bushmills Neighborhood Green as part of the Dallas Greening Initiative," the report said.

Elsewhere across the Metroplex, Frisco jumped seven spots and now ranks 30th, and Arlington moved up one spot as No. 45. Garland ranked 64th (up from No. 67) and Fort Worth soared to No. 58 (up form from No. 72).

Molly Morgan, the Texas State Director and Associate Vice President of Trust for Public Land, said in the release that Texas' high-scoring performance in the annual index has proved that it is making park accessibility a statewide priority.

"Cities across the Lone Star State are making serious investments, opening new parks, partnering with school
districts, and closing gaps that have existed for decades," Morgan said. "They’re showing what’s possible when
Texas gets serious about parks."

Morgan added that there's still more work to be done to increase park accessibility to the 9 million Texans that don't have a park within a 10-minute walk of their homes.

parks reports parkscore report trust for public land plano dallas irving

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