Based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett, it follows a frustrated African-American novelist-professor who writes an outlandish satire of stereotypical "Black" books, only for it to be mistaken for serious literature and published to high sales and critical praise.

The film stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody and Keith David.

His university places him on temporary leave due to his brashness with students over racial issues, and suggests he attend a literary seminar and spend time with family in his hometown of Boston.

At the seminar, his panel is poorly attended, in contrast to a packed room for an interview with Sintara Golden, whose bestselling novel We's Lives in Da Ghetto panders to Black stereotypes.

Frustrated by Sintara's success and the costs of care for his mother, Monk writes My Pafology, a satirical novel mocking the literary stereotypes expected from Black writers: melodramatic plots, deadbeat dads, gang violence, and drugs.

After submitting it to publishers out of contempt, he is shocked to be offered a $750,000 advance, and his agent Arthur convinces him to adopt the persona of convict on the run "Stagg R. Leigh".

Monk is invited to help judge the New England Book Association's Literary Award as part of a "diversity push", and he reluctantly accepts.

In December 2022, Tracee Ellis Ross, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Sterling K. Brown, Myra Lucretia Taylor, John Ortiz, Issa Rae, and Adam Brody joined the cast.

[9] As a first-time filmmaker, Jefferson said he was such a fan of Wright's that he was nervous to give him feedback; it was producer Nikos Karamigios who, on the first day of shooting, encouraged him to be more assertive as a director.

[12] On September 8, 2023, American Fiction premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award.

[11][13] This was followed by a run in the festival circuit, culminating in its United States premiere at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles on December 5, 2023.

The website's consensus reads: "Jeffrey Wright and American Fiction will forever be inextricable thanks to the actor's committed approach to the pointedly humorous and insightful material.

[19] In her review for The Hollywood Reporter, Lovia Gyarke wrote that "American Fiction is smart and, thanks to its fine cast, has genuine heart", commending Wright's "subtle physicality … that contributes depth to his character", as well as "Uggams' increasingly somber performance as Agnes and Brown's delightful comedic turn".

[24] Peter Debruge for Variety, applauded Jefferson's writing prowess, likening him to Flannery O'Connor and Toni Morrison, whose works were both referenced in the film.

Robinson goes on to identify the distinguishable legacy within the script, emphasizing Jefferson's "sharply pointed finger at the many institutional factors that keep [Black art], and its creators, restrained.

Zacharek notes that Wright does so "not with thunderous, statement-making gestures, but with small ones that remind us how vulnerable Monk is", even amidst the protagonist's "own raging intelligence".