On the Come Up Movie Discussion Questions and Review written by the Ent on September 25th, 2022. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Watch
Movie: On the Come Up
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, Musical
Length: 1 hr. 55 mins.
Age suggested: 13 and up
Release Date: September 23rd, 2022
Streaming Service: Paramount+
Warnings: Lots of swearing, Loss of parent, Drug references, Lots of overt and non-overt racism, and Many allusions to gun violence (See our “Is On the Come Up Appropriate” Section for more details)
Quick On the Come Up Summary
Based on the Book of the Same Name by Angie Thomas, On the Come Up tells the story of Bri. She is an aspiring rapper who has a natural gift of rhythm and lyrics. She lives in Garden Heights and attends a school where she, along with other Black and LatinX kids, gets treated differently. After an incident with the school officers, Bri must learn how to use her abilities and connections to stand for what she believes in.
On the Come Up Movie and Book Differences
I wanted to spend a little bit of time here to discuss the similarities and differences between the On the Come Up book. As a quick summary, The overall plot of the movie pretty much matches up with the book. It is in the details where you see significant changes that affect relationships, friendships, and subplots.
Major Differences between the On the Come Up Book and Movie
Aunt Pooh
In the book, Aunt Pooh plays a bit of a bigger role and has a darker subplot to her as well. In the book, Aunt Pooh is a known drug dealer and this causes a bit of tension between Pooh and her family quite a few times. This is also what eventually lands her in jail.
The other portion of this is that Aunt Pooh plays a much larger role in the start of Bri’s rap career. Similar to the book, she gets Bri her gig in the rap battle ring, but she also is the one who sets up studio time to record “On the Come Up”
Bri’s love interest(s)
This one is pretty straight forward. In the book, Malik is her childhood crush who starts dating another girl. Throughout the book, Bri starts liking (and ends up dating) a different boy named Curtis. Curtis is not even a character in the movie as they decided to just straight line Bri’s relationships. On a very mild note, they also made Sonny and Milez’ relationship a lot more subtle and took out a subplot in which they met online but didn’t know it was each other.
Bri’s Rapping Journey/Ability
This one is a bit harder to nail down. To start with, Bri does not choke in the ring on her first try in the book. Honestly, one thing that’s consistent in the book is that Bri has almost constant of rhymes and rhythm in her mind that she sometimes unleashed. To be fair, there is many allusions to this in the movie, but her ability is a bit undersold.
The other part is her actual lyrics. There are several lyrics in the movie that really put Bri in trouble just because of what they are. Most of the lyrics in the book have to be taken out of context to be used against Bri.
On the Come Up Movie Review
(Contains Light Spoilers)
–Why Watch On the Come Up-
On the Come Up tells a really interesting story of overcoming stereotypes and following your dreams. Bri consistently has to push back against people’s expectations of her and even though she doesn’t always make the right choice, you can feel for her struggle. Bri’s story goes through so many ups and downs, but does leave her with a potential future where she gets to control her destiny.
The actors in this movie did a great job conveying their characters. Jamila C. Gray (Bri) does a great job conveying the complexities of Bri’s emotions, especially during the rap battles. But she also was great at the gentler, calmer side of Bri as well. Another shot out to Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Aunt Pooh. She played the supportive aunt and even though the character is very different than the book, Da’Vine played the role very well!
Sanaa Lathan, who simultaneously played Jay and directed the film, did a phenomenal job. She is the mother who has fought drug addiction and is trying to pull her life back together. When we first meet her, she is three years sober and still dealing with ramifications of her addiction.
-Is On the Come Up Appropriate?-
There is quite a bit in this movie to be aware before letting younger viewers watch this movie. Firstly and simply, there is a lot of cussing throughout the movie. There are also many allusions to gun violence and one character is shot. The shot is not witnessed, only the aftermath in the hospital). Also, Bri’s dad died when she was young and he gets brought up a lot, sometimes in mocking ways. Bri’s mom has a history of drug use (nothing shown), but has been clean for three years when we meet her.
A big plot of the story is that Bri is taken down very harshly be a school officer during a search for “not complying.” This incident has greater ramifications throughout the film and brings out many palpable moments of direct racism. That is why overall, we would say a kid should be at least 13 years old before watching this film. Even with that, it would be important to watch it with them to guide them through the more difficult topics
Favorite On the Come Up Movie Quotes
“Once upon a time there was a girl named Bri. That’s me.”
“I lost my innocence the night she left.”
“In this fairytale, my father was once a king. Now I’m chasing his dream.”
“Coming second to the stage, she goes by the name Lil’ Law”
“They don’t even do this with everybody. Just us cause we’re the “Diversiry Initiative”
“Aggressive. One Word. Three Syllables. Rhymes with Oppressive.”
“You are my child. You are Everything”
“I know that broke you. I know. And maybe I can’t undo the hurt. But I can promise you that I am never going away again.”
-On the Come Up Movie Quotes
On the Come Up Curriculum
We have a On the Come Up Curriculum Aide available for digital download. This download includes:
-On the Come Up Movie and Book Discussion Questions
-Multiple Choice Quizzes for Book and Movie with answers
-Short Answer Quiz
-Essay and Project Prompts
-A Venn Diagram to compare the book and movie, story worksheets & MORE!
*Find our On the Come Up curriculum on Teachers Pay Teachers here!
*You can also check out our Angie Thomas Bundle here!
*A great deal for a full discussion guide! & Thanks for checking out our On the Come Up Discussion Questions and Review!
*We have also create an Angie Thomas Bundle that you can find in our store or at Teachers Pay Teachers
Continue reading for the On the Come Up Discussion Questions!
On the Come Up Movie Discussion Questions
Themes to Discuss: Systemic Racism, Following Your Dreams, Poverty, Responsibility
- If you have read the book, how did the movie compare to it? If you haven’t, are you more interested now?
- Why is Bri working so hard to make a rap career?
- How do the events with the guards at school affect Bri’s music career?
- How does this movie teach you to follow your passions and dreams?
Thanks for checking out our On the Come Up Movie Discussion Questions and Review. Before you go, check out these other posts:
–On the Come Up Book Review with Discussion Questions
–The Hate U Give Review and Curriculum
–Concrete Rose (Prequel to The Hate U Give) Review and Curriculum
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