Haven’t seen a lot of people talking about the last scene, but it left me feeling so gross.

Levee spends the whole movie thinking he’s found a way out of these frustrations he’s felt all his life, thinking he can have the same freedom—or as she puts it, usefulness—that Ma Rainey has, only to be told that his music “isn’t what they’re looking for” and he has no way out. He takes out his frustration on who he can, kills a man, and his life is ultimately ruined.

And what does the movie cut to? A soulless, emotionless white man’s rendition of Levee’s ticket out, of the song they “people didn’t want.” That’s the note we’re left on. A case of a movie making me genuinely groan out loud and leaving a bad taste in my mouth in a good way.