Southside with You

Principal photography on the film began on July 13, 2015 on location in Chicago, Illinois;[11] following that, several websites released photos from the set.[6][10][12] Filming wrapped on July 31, 2015.[11] Locations included downtown, the South Side, and the West Side.[11] Filming was also done on Amstutz Expressway in Waukegan.[13][14]

Southside with You was released in North America on August 26, 2016, and was initially projected to gross around $2 million from 813 theaters in its opening weekend.[22] It ended up grossing $2.9 million, a per-theater average of $3,762.[23][24] The film went on to gross a total of $6.5 million against its $1.5 million budget.[3][2]

Southside with You became available on Digital HD on November 29, 2016 and Blu-Ray and DVD on December 13, 2016 from Lionsgate and Miramax.[25] The film became available to stream on Netflix on April 26, 2017.[26] On November 10, 2018, the film had its cable television premiere on BET, airing back-to-back with BET Presents: Love and Happiness: An Obama Celebration, a televised 2016 White House concert that honored the Presidency of Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama.[27]

Southside with You received mostly positive reviews, with praise going to Tanne's direction and screenplay, as well as to the performances of Sumpter and Sawyers. Upon its premiere at Sundance, it immediately garnered positive buzz with Essence writing that "critics gave it two very enthusiastic thumbs up, calling it a classic romance story."[28] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 163 reviews, with an average rating of 7.30/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Southside with You looks back on a fateful real-life date with strong performances and engaging dialogue, adding up to a romance that makes for a pretty good date movie in its own right."[29] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[30]

Justin Chang of Variety wrote that the film "stands as something unique, even audacious in American independent movies: a fact-based presidential "prequel" that seeks to present two iconic world figures as convincing and relatable romantic leads. And on that particular score, Tanne's movie — toplined by the very well-cast Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers — is pretty much an unqualified success."[31]

Critic Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called it "the date movie of the year," and described it as "gorgeously romantic."[32] Richard Brody of The New Yorker touted Tanne's first film as "an opening act of superb audacity," and described it as "a fully realized, intricately imagined, warmhearted, sharp-witted, and perceptive drama, one that sticks close to its protagonists while resonating quietly but grandly with the sweep of a historical epic."[33]

Odie Henderson of RogerEbert.com gave the film four-out-of-four stars, stating that it is "at once a love song to the city of Chicago and its denizens, an unmistakably Black romance and a gentle, universal comedy," adding that "it is unapologetic about all three of these elements, and interweaves them in such a subtle fashion that they become more pronounced only upon later reflection."[34]

Stephanie Zacharek of Time described it as a "vivid and imaginative portrayal," and noted of the two lead performances that "Sawyers captures both the easy, loping rhythms of our future 44th President’s speech and the long-stride elegance of his carriage. Sumpter is equally terrific," adding that "she manifests perfectly the future First Lady's under-the-radar determination, always tempered by empathy."[35]

The film was criticized by several critics for what they deemed a hagiographic depiction of Obama,[36][37][38] while others questioned its authenticity.[39] Fred Topel of Guff.com opined that Obama comes across as predatory in the film by ignoring Robinson's boundaries, which he did not find believable.[40]

The film was cited on many year-end lists including The New Yorker,[41] The Washington Post,[42] The San Francisco Chronicle,[43] The Hollywood Reporter,[44] RogerEbert.com,[45] The Huffington Post,[46] Mandatory,[47] Applaudience on Medium[48] and Ain’t It Cool News.[49]