Sylvie's Love

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Sylvie's Love

PG-13

2020

1h 54m

Romance

Drama

Music

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

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125 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

In Sylvie’s Love, the jazz is smooth and the air sultry in the hot New York summer of 1957. Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha), a saxophonist, spends late nights playing behind a less-talented but well-known bandleader, as member of a jazz quartet. Sylvie (Tessa Thompson), who dreams of a career in television, spends her summer days helping around her father’s record store, as she waits for her fiancé to return from war. When Robert takes a part-time job at the record store, the two begin a friendship that sparks a deep passion in each of them unlike anything they have felt before. As the summer winds down, life takes them in different directions, bringing their relationship to an end. Years pass, Sylvie’s career as a TV producer blossoms, while Robert has to come to terms with what the age of Motown is doing to the popularity of Jazz. In a chance meeting, Sylvie and Robert cross paths again, only to find that while their lives have changed, their feelings for each other remain the same. Writer/director Eugene Ashe combines romance and music into a sweeping story that brings together changing times, a changing culture, and the true price of love.

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Critics Consensus

A romance for the ages, Sylvie's Love wraps audiences in the sweet embrace of its old-fashioned romance and celebration of Black love.

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Aisha Harris

NPR

Feb 20, 2021

A stylishly moody period drama riffing on love and desire both romantic and professional.

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Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

Feb 20, 2021

3.5/4

Like the great Douglas Sirk melodramas... "Sylvie's Love" is unabashedly sentimental and just gorgeous to behold - but the difference here is the terrific ensemble cast is primarily Black and Latinx.

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Candice Frederick

Insider

Jan 14, 2021

Sylvie's humanity is never marginalized. We feel her joy, her pitfalls, and most importantly her love. We see the same for Robert as well.

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Jillian Chilingerian

Offscreen With Jillian

Aug 30, 2023

Sylvie's Love is a soulful film that feels like everything La La Land couldn't accomplish with its characters.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Aug 17, 2022

4/5

Everything about “Sylvie’s Love” screams classic Hollywood romance.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Feb 17, 2022

3.5/4

Sylvie's Love never feels like a contemporary filmmaker taking a postmodern jab at the past, even though that's under the surface. Rather, the film contains a constant thrust of nostalgia and romanticizes an outmoded filmmaking style.

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Robert H

@Happens Jul 24, 2026

Outstanding movie - beautifully acted, not sentimental, but full of love.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Jul 2, 2025

Success in 1 hour and 54 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated PG-13 for Smoking and Some Sexual Content!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Joy H

@RT71665003 Feb 22, 2024

Extraordinary, just extraordinary. Giving me all the feels from minute one through the credits.

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isla s

@RT89656869 Sep 2, 2022

I enjoyed this film. I thought the two main characters had good chemistry and I enjoyed the music played. It has a good sense of atmosphere throughout. Its a bit sad at times and uplifting at other times but its a thoughtful watch and I'd recommend it, yes.

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Mar 4, 2022

I love this movie. It's funny, tender, and somewhat sad. Great acting, and sadly true on the racial and economic level. It still is uplifting and says many things about being able to overcome and find happiness even when you face obstacles.

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D P

@RT45936356 Jan 8, 2022

Ummm, ok, so... It wasn't terrible. It was actually entertaining on some level. It was just the story that was so frustrating to watch. I really just didn't like the narrative here.

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Eugene Ashe

Director

Tessa Thompson

Sylvie

Nnamdi Asomugha

Robert

Eva Longoria

Carmen

Aja Naomi King

Mona

Wendi McLendon-Covey

Lucy

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Midnight Sun

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2 Hearts

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It Ends With Us

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Synopsis

In Sylvie’s Love, the jazz is smooth and the air sultry in the hot New York summer of 1957. Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha), a saxophonist, spends late nights playing behind a less-talented but well-known bandleader, as member of a jazz quartet. Sylvie (Tessa Thompson), who dreams of a career in television, spends her summer days helping around her father’s record store, as she waits for her fiancé to return from war. When Robert takes a part-time job at the record store, the two begin a friendship that sparks a deep passion in each of them unlike anything they have felt before. As the summer winds down, life takes them in different directions, bringing their relationship to an end. Years pass, Sylvie’s career as a TV producer blossoms, while Robert has to come to terms with what the age of Motown is doing to the popularity of Jazz. In a chance meeting, Sylvie and Robert cross paths again, only to find that while their lives have changed, their feelings for each other remain the same. Writer/director Eugene Ashe combines romance and music into a sweeping story that brings together changing times, a changing culture, and the true price of love.

Director: Eugene Ashe
Producer: Nnamdi Asomugha, Jonathan Baker, Gabrielle Glore, Matthew Thurm, Eugene Ashe
Screenwriter: Eugene Ashe
Production Co: Iam21 Entertainment, Seven Letter Word Films
Rating: PG-13 (Smoking|Some Sexual Content)
Genre: Romance, Drama, Music
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 23, 2020
Runtime: 1h 54m

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