As Minhal Baig’s We Grown Now unfolds, a true lack of understanding of someone else’s life begins to set in; the struggles to put food on the table, and to grow up underserved and emboldened at such a young age are a counterpoint to the human love mothers express for their children, no matter the waves of adversity placed in their way.

Baig softens the harshness of the environment and the struggles Malik (Blake Cameron James), his mother Amber (Avery Holliday), and Grandmother Anita (S. Epatha Merkerson) face through a tenderness of motherly love and a friendship that rises through adversity.

Set in i the early 1990s, Malik’s journey is full of piss and vinegar. Baig’s story typifies a fatherless existence for Malik. James exquisitely plays Malik, first through his tough exterior, then through the whims of a child only peripherally aware that more is possible. Holliday plays the strained mother on the brink of her limits, exemplified through stories told by Anita of the struggles she experienced when they were forced up to the North.

This generationally told format serves We Grown Now, not just for its implications on Malik’s life (he would have ignored it at first anyway), but also for how the struggles repeat themselves as if the bonds of encampment in Cabrini-Green are symbolic of extended family. The violence depicted in the background is nearly nameless, certainly faceless, as a police crackdown force is an endurance test that no human should have to go through.

Thematically, Baig finds a way for Malik to express his desires, even if he cannot speak of them. We Grown Now is far more interpretive and invites the audience into the experience equally, through Malik’s friendship with Gian Knight Ramirez’s Eric. Together, they are a troublesome pair, but they realize they need one another more than either of them realizes.

Admittedly, the challenge with growing up in the suburbs in the 1980s was a lack of exposure to several facets of life, including being a part of another culture’s life experiences. Most of that exposure came from “The Cosby Show,” sadly. The struggles placed on other cultures by various governments, including Richard Daley’s “cracking down” on the violence in the Cabrini-Green housing complex are even more well-documented. It doesn’t mean that it made its way to this critic’s ears, even as a teenager.

We Grown Now artfully and inventively opens eyes to an unconsidered worldview. Cabrini-Green is long since gone, but its symbolic nature is not forgotten. Pat Scola’s cool shades of grey, overcast imagery helps to depict the struggles, so much so that when Malik experiences the possibility of dreams being fulfilled through sun-drenched North Chicago, you are nearly blinded by the realization and revelatory effects on him.

Similarly, Stephanie Filo’s editing conveys the shifting nature of the counterpoints between violence and hope while Jay Wadley’s exceptional score carries the hope to its logical conclusion.

We Grown Now is a towering achievement for its performances and social themes. Minhal Baig’s direction and script artfully and inventively convey Malik’s story and Blake Cameron James’ performance opens eyes.

We Grown Now

Written and Directed by Minhal Baig

Starring Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, Avery Holiday, S. Epatha Merkerson, Lil Rel Howery, Jurnee Smollett

PG, 93 mins, Sony Pictures Classics/Stage 6 Films/Participant