Precious: If Mo’ Nique Doesn’t Win An Oscar, There Is No Justice In The World

Mo'Nique as, Mary, the abusive mother in Precious.

About the much anticipated film Precious, which we saw two weeks ago at the Austin Film Festival, we have one thing to say: If Mo’Nique doesn’t win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, there is no justice in the world. The rest of the film, carried by Gabby Sidibe in the title roll of a teenager living with abuse at home, was good, but Mo’Nique gave an emotional performance that left us exhausted for feeling as though we went through it with her.

If you’ve watched the trailer, as we did about a million times before we saw the film, you’ve seen Mo’Nique’s portrayal of the angry, abusive mother, Mary, to Sidibe’s Claireece Precious Jones. This side of Mary is disturbing enough, but it’s Mo’Nique’s final scene, which we won’t give away, that literally had us sitting on the edge of our seat, cringing over the humanity. Mo’Nique left nothing in the dressing room and how she didn’t experience some sort of nervous breakdown as a result of it is a testament to her skill as an actress.

Watch Mo’Nique Discuss The Character Of Mary From The Film Precious.

On the other side of the acting spectrum, Sidibe’s strength is her ability to not emote through all the hardship her character experiences. You wonder what is going on behind those dark eyes and when she does break into a smile, you feel yourself breathe a sigh of relief. And while, ordinarily, we’d say non-emotion is harder to portray than drama, what Mo’Nique physically pulled off on-screen, assures us that she, if any of the cast, has earned the picture its Oscar.

Mariah Carey left her glitter at home to star with Gabby Sidibe in Precious.

Mariah Carey turns in a respectable performance as the homely welfare counselor. We believed her character despite the fact that, in real life, she is such a glamorous überstar. And Paula Patton, who plays Precious’ teacher Ms. Rain, was also strong as the only actress allowed to look physically beautiful, but who turns out to have her own plot twist.

Overall, the hype surrounding Precious did something to underwhelm our experience of the story arc, but Mo’Nique’s performance left us compelled to say that the movie is worth seeing just to be reminded of what a real actor is capable of making you feel.

Precious is in select theaters starting today, November 6.