[2] Set in a small baptist community in the south of Mississippi, a 17-year-old high school senior and talented singer juggles with his sexuality and religion while also dealing with the disappearance of his younger sister as it tore his family apart.

Polk initially tried to get the film made several years earlier, with Jussie Smollett cast as the young lead, however financing fell through.

[3] When the funding came through years later, he was forced to re-cast because of Smollett's busy schedule on Empire, and struggled to find a black male actor who would portray a gay love story on screen.

"[5] The New York Times said that the film has an "impressive, palpable conviction," although it ultimately "suffers from soapy excesses and narrative disjunctures.

"[6] Slant Magazine wrote: "Blackbird is, like its main character, too naïve to understand or, at least, to deploy the reparative powers of camp.