- Struggling creatives Rahmell and Yannie find unexpected romance amidst life’s challenges.
- The film grounds Black love in real, relatable experiences, avoiding excessive idealization.
- Love doesn’t always wait for the ‘perfect’ time, as the co-stars’ real-life relationship reflects.
Can you fall in love in one day?
That is one of the questions at the center of 93 ‘Til, a Philadelphia love story that combines the classic vibes of Black 90s romance with a modern feel of today.
Bossip attended the film’s premiere at the American Black Film Festival, a feature film debut for writer and director Alterik Miller, whose short film Laundry won the ABFF Black Fathers’ Competition in 2025.
The film follows two creatives, Rahmell (Petey McGee), a painter, and Yannie (Sophia Lucia Parola), a vintage clothing entrepreneur, who want to make a living from their passions but haven’t gotten their big break yet.
A combination of familial pressures, overdue bills, and an eviction notice brings them both to a corporate job fair where they lock eyes and later connect. The twosome ditches the fair to spend the day together, using the city of Philadelphia as a guide, exploring its food, music, and nightlife, with no distractions from devices, just each other.
What seems like the perfect date is disrupted by a ghost from Rahmell’s past, providing a hurdle for the budding couple.
Miller uses music, humor, and relatable hardships faced by young people with hopes to be gainfully employed doing what they love. The film also examines the idea of falling in love even when other facets of life, like work and finances, are unstable.
We chatted with Miller about his decision to take on the romance genre. The director said he wanted to bring a sense of normalcy back to the space.
“I feel like some of the Black romances that have been coming out, I think they elevate them a little too much [so] that it doesn’t feel real anymore,” Miller said. “Our film is grounded in real love, it’s grounded in real connection and people that are in the audience can feel themselves in every character in this film.”
Sophie Lucia Parola, who plays Yannie, believes the film explores the choice between art and love.
The actress who is in a real-life relationship with her co-star Petey McGee believes that love doesn’t wait for people to reach a specific point in life, a theme explored in the film.
“I wasn’t in the place I thought I would be when I fell in love,” she said. “You can’t deny when you have that chemistry.”
The chemistry between the co-stars is undeniable among the leads and throughout the entire cast. Chicago PD star LaRoyce Hawkins executive-produced the film and provided spoken word, his first musical placement in a film, along with playing the role of Benji.
Hawkins initially wanted to stay behind the scenes and focus on production and adding value to the film through music.
“That’s where the opportunity started for me, to be able to explore but it felt like to live on a score and a soundtrack. Before I knew it, [being a poet] grew into a role that now I’m very, very grateful for how everything really worked out,” Hawkins told BOSSIP. “After seeing the audience’s response I knew that obedience is way better than sacrifice.”
Hawkins was definitely onto something because the audience was engaged during the screening from start to finish. Alterik Miller has his sights set on a theatrical release, so you’re in luck. Stay tuned for 93 ‘Til in a theater near you.
