Always In Season | Film Review

The complexity of our country’s inherit and systemic racism is no surprise to those of us who care and have paid attention, but no amount of History textbook readings can prepare you for the disturbing, horrific, and absolute brutality that is lynching.

Jacqueline Olive’s documentary, Always In Season, folds the story of a man found hung from a swing-set, declared as a suicide, in an area known for lynching and inherently racist remarks and actions, with the details of lynching embedded in our history. The overlay can, at times – and mostly in the beginning, feel like the information in this documentary is skewed and biased. Not that it isn’t plausible or accurate, but it can make a skeptical person question what evidence is there to link Lennon Lacy’s death to a possible homicide; one that, if true, would be a mortifying display of racial intimidation.

One of the things that immediately popped into my head as this film began and we heard from Lennon Lacy’s mom, Claudia, is “denial”. Could it be that she doesn’t want to believe that her son would take his own life? It’s often said that a person who dies by suicide is the same person their loved ones never would have seen coming. But as the story progresses, it becomes more clear.

There is evidence – there’s plenty enough in my book to at least thoroughly investigate this without immediate dismissal. While it might not have been laid out with the best technique possible, it’s still culturally relevant, and significant to the Lacy case. The procedures that are in place to validate suicide vs homicide were not followed through on, the coroner’s report did not indicate it was a suicide, and unfortunately, much more. Why did Claudia Lacy have to work so hard to get anyone to hear her out, and why was this not handled properly from the very beginning?

In the midst of all of these questions, we have the back and forth of the history of lynching. What it was, why there are reenactments, and why this has any relevancy. The idea Olive seemed to be going for was to subtly indicate to you the similarities between the period of time lynching was alive and “accepted” in America and the case of Lennon Lacy’s death. It’s important to show the gravity of what this was. Certainly no school system in America is expressing just how horrendous these acts were.

While I can appreciate this knowledge and gaining of a deeper understanding of just how horrific these acts were, the structure of the film faltered because of the constant reintroduction. At some point, I felt like I didn’t know what the focus of the film was: history of lynching or the death of Lennon Lacy. This unclear path was the biggest fallout of Always In Season and could have otherwise made for such an incredible piece of eye-opening work.

That said, the film’s overall message of how systemic racism is still culturally accepted in many ways to this day, is one that’s valid, important, and pertinent to the current social climate. This is something that has been happening and continues to happen, and we are the only ones who can create significant change to make it as blatantly unacceptable as it should be. There are voices that deserve to be heard, and this documentary utilizes its opportunity to showcase that.