Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, Anna Diop, RJ Cyler, David Oyelowo, Micheal Ward, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Caleb McLaughlin, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
Bibilical drama written and directed by Jeymes Samuel. The Book of Clarence (2024) follows the streetwise but down-on-his-luck, Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield), who is struggling to find a better life for his family, while fighting to free himself of debt. Captivated by the power and glory of the rising Messiah and His apostles, he risks everything to carve his own path to a divine life, and ultimately discovers that the redemptive power of belief may be his only way out.
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Best Quotes
Book I: The 13th Apostle
Elijah: It’s him.
Clarence: Jesus of Nazareth.
Elijah: My God.
Clarence: [referring to the apostles] No. No. God doesn’t exist. They do. Shining like stars out here, Elijah.
Elijah: Stars is an understatement. They are the damn sun.
Elijah: [referring to Jesus and his apostles] I want to be like that in ten years.
Clarence: I want to be like that now. Minus the bougery.
Clarence: I believe in life itself. You pray to a man in the sky you’ve never met.
Clarence: I’m not a nobody!
Thomas: A man that lacks honor is a nobody.
Amina: Better wash before you go see her. I’m just trying to make sure you don’t die a virgin, son.
Clarence: Oh, wow. I’m not a virgin.
Amina: What you do at night behind that curtain doesn’t count.
Clarence: That is not me. That’s the local rats.
Amina: Very loud rats.
Amina: [to Clarence] Home is where you are happy, son. And I’m happy here with you.
'Be the body, not the shadow. Hold space.' - Amina (The Book of Clarence) Share on X
Clarence: You said I had thirty days to pay you back.
Jedediah the Terrible: Now it’s twenty-nine days, twenty-two hours, or death.
Jedediah the Terrible: Both of you should be aware before I crucify you, I’m going to get a little evil first.
Clarence: Isn’t the act of crucifixion in and of itself evil?
Jedediah the Terrible: You know, you make a deal with the devil, it’s going to cost you a shekel.
Clarence: Don’t worry, Elijah. I have a plan.
Elijah: That is exactly what I’m worried about.
John the Baptist: You highfalutin nincompoop. You want me to baptize you to attain good favor with our Lord so that when you are called to heaven, you and this Bushman will be welcomed with open arms?
Clarence: Yes. Basically.
John the Baptist: So, Claance, you now believe in Jesus?
Clarence: Yes. Basically.
John the Baptist: You are not a believer. But I like you, Claance. In spite of your selfish ways, there’s a beautiful soul in there somewhere.
John the Baptist: [referring to Clarence] Dear Lord, he is definitely going to get killed by Jedediah the Terrible, so when you finally meet him, Lord, which is soon, please, let him inside heaven, Lord. And then kick him out! So he shall forever know what he’s missing because he did not know the depth of his own idiocy to not repent.
'Faith is not something you hide behind. You stand in front of it.' - Barabbas (The Book of Clarence) Share on X
Talitha: [referring to Clarence] Behold! He who the cat refused to drag in, but entered nonetheless.
Clarence: You know, you’re one of the only people that pronounces my name with two syllables, and I love it.
Varinia: You know, my brother is going to break it into four.
Clarence: I’m going to become the thirteenth apostle of Jesus.
Elijah: A stupid idea.
Varinia: Clarence is a giant that thinks himself an ant. An eagle that thinks he’s a worm. He can fly if he puts his mind to it. But instead he crawls, thinking he’s less than he is, and I’m worried for him.
Amina: Replace that worry with acceptance. Accept that Clarence will forever venture where no one else dares. And get ready to jump, because he will find that cloud soon enough.
'I don't believe in change. I believe in growth.' - Varinia (The Book of Clarence) Share on X
Judas Iscariot: So, Thomas, this is your brother I hear you tell of? He looks exactly like you, but nothing like you at the same time.
Thomas: I’m older.
Clarence: By ten minutes.
Thomas: Still older.
Clarence: Don’t tell me I’m a bad person. Just playing the cards I was dealt.
Elijah: [to Clarence] You’re about to get both of us killed and you have the nerve to be daydreaming?
Dirty Zeke: [to Clarence] If you die, do not ever ask me for another ride.
Barabbas: Where did you learn to fight like that?
Clarence: Well, your men fight by rules. Where I’m from, you fight to survive. It’s a big difference.
Thomas: I love you, Clarence, like I love the Lord himself. But you’ll never be one of us. You are destined for nothing more than failure. I’d stop following the Messiah before I’d ever ask him to allow you into our movement. I don’t even want you to change your ways. I don’t want to be reminded of what was. Just disappear.
'We're all just men and women. Most of us have no idea what we're doing. By the time we figure it out, it's too late.' - Clarence (The Book of Clarence) Share on X
Clarence: Knowledge is stronger than belief! You believe that God exists because you know nothing of the world, which is why you do the silly s**t you do. But I, I possess the knowledge. I possess the knowledge that there is no God. Which makes every single last one of you, every single last one, liars! Or fools.
Book II: The New Messiah
Clarence: [referring to Jesus] I need to figure out what inspires him, where he learned all of his little tricks. If I get his sermons, then I can just replicate what he does.
Clarence: If Destiny won’t come knocking, then I’ll put a sword to Destiny’s neck.
Joseph: [to Clarence] Young man. If you were a tool in my carpenter’s box, you wouldn’t be the sharpest.
Mary Magdalene: I was minding my own virgin business, just being a virgin, and an angel called Gabriel came upon me. And said, “Greetings, O favored one. The Lord is with you. And you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”
Clarence: [to Joseph] And you believed all of this?
'We need enlightenment. Not punishment.' - Clarence (The Book of Clarence) Share on X
Mary Magdalene: My dear, dear child, you find faith. Then you will find all the answers you seek.
Clarence: Belief will be the undoing of all mankind.
Clarence: You are like that round, fiery object that constantly floats in the sky that none of us can stare at. A miracle. Look at me. Look at me. A miracle of creation, and we ignore it every single day as we ignore the majestic miracle of our own existence, which is why we still question His existence. Knowledge is stronger than belief.
Clarence: I am here to enlighten you. I am…
Elijah: Say it, Claance. Commit to it. This is why we are here.
Clarence: I am your new Messiah.
Clarence: [to Thomas] How dare you come here and tell me what you expect of me. A man who serves everyone everywhere, but turns his back on the one that birthed him. You claim to be a man of God. What God has you deny your family to worship him? Maybe it’s the same God that would have the entire world worship him while children die in the streets.