I admire good movies which can function as the window of empathy and understanding to people a lot different from me or you, and “Earth Mama” is a prime example of that. As following the daily struggles of one young African American single mother in one urban neighborhood, the movie lets us understand and empathize more with her difficult and fragile status, and you may come to reflect more on the harsh social conditions surrounding many other women like her out there.

As the early part of the film establishes her current status, Gia (Tia Nomore) looks like a living example to remind us of the importance of birth control and planned parenthood. She already has two kids, but her children has been under foster care because her caseworker decided that Gia is unfit to raise her two kids alone, and now she has been pregnant with her third child during last several months.

Gia sincerely wants to show that she is really prepared to raise not only her two children but also her upcoming third kid, but, unfortunately, she has been disadvantaged in one way or another. Besides demonstrating that she has been surely working hard for supporting herself as well as her children, she must attend a number of public education classes along with a bunch of other black women not so different from her, but she often does not have enough time due to her menial current job. She works at a little photograph shop run by a middle-aged Asian American guy, but this job does not get her paid that much, and she cannot even pay her phone bill right now.

Above all, Gia feels hurt whenever she is allowed to spend some time with her two kids under supervision. While she is certainly happy to see them, she is also reminded of their ongoing unhappiness caused by her current condition, and that makes her more desperate to say the least. She is surely determined to get back her kids as soon as possible, but then she often feels blocked by the uncaring system in which she has been hopelessly stuck, so she comes to have more doubts on her motherhood.

At least, there is some comfort and support from her two friends: Mel (Keta Price) and Trina (Doechii). Because they have also had a fair share of hardships as fellow black women, they know well how things can be hard and difficult for Gia, though they have different opinions on motherhood. While Mel is relatively moderate, Trina is rather fanatical in her viewpoint, and there is a brief but fierce moment where she tells Gia about why Gia must fight against the system all the way for not getting her kids taken away from her forever.

However, after meeting a sympathetic counselor, Gia becomes conflicted about what she should do with her upcoming third kid. The counselor tells her that it may be better for her third kid to be adopted by any good couple who needs a baby to raise, and Gia seriously begins to consider this alternative as reminded of how it will be difficult for her to raise no less than three young kids alone by herself. She surely feels afraid of this possible personal challenge, but she is also quite reluctant to give up her upcoming third kid.

Anyway, she is eventually persuaded to meet the candidate adoptive parents for her upcoming third child. Besides being black, the couple looks like fairly decent persons as her counselor said, and Gia eventually agrees to give up her baby, but she remained as confused as before. Kindly understanding her emotional turmoil, her counselor reminds her that she can change her mind at any point before eventually handing her baby over to that couple, but that only exacerbates her emotional confusion.

Steadily sticking to the non-judgmental viewpoint on its heroine, the screenplay by director/writer Savanah Leaf, which is based on Leaf and Taylor Rusell’s 2020 short film “The Heart Still Hums”, leisurely rolls for more mood and characterization, and Leaf and her cinematographer Lee Lipes occasionally provide some lyrical moments, which feel visually striking in contrast to the grainy visual quality of the movie as immersing us more into its heroine’s state of mind. Despite constantly struggling with many difficulties in her daily life, Gia sometime gets a little moment of respite at times, and I particularly like a lovely peaceful moment where she and one of her close friends spend some free time at a remote spot outside their urban neighborhood.

Leaf also draws solid natural performances from her main cast members. While newcomer Tia Nomore, who incidentally had no previous movie acting experience before appearing here in this movie, anchors the film with her unadorned strong acting, Erika Alexander, Keta Price, and Doechii are effective in their respective substantial supporting parts, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster, a British actress whom you may remember for her notable supporting turn in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” (2021), and Bokeem Woodbine bring a little extra warmth during their brief appearance.

In conclusion, “Earth Mama” is one of small gems of this year, and Leaf, who previously directed a number of short films and music videos, made a commendable feature film debut here. As far as I can see from the film, she is a talented filmmaker with lots of potential, and I will certainly have some expectation on whatever will come next from her in the future.