Similarly, Driver and Glover are wasted in stereotypical roles. But unfortunately, as Kaz he is given little to do beyond play an uncomplicated boy scout. Nate Parker seems ever on the rise, and yet never seems to break through to mainstream conversations. And taking advice from a man who suggests she give up her sex-driven persona for something more personal is the last thing Driver's Momma Rose wants. Kaz Nicols (Nate Parker) has dreams of being a politician, so getting involved with a scandalous pop princess is the last thing his glowering father (Danny Glover) wants him to do. So our inciting incident is a suicide attempt thwarted by a cop who happens to be her bodyguard on this particular night. But despite the fame and fortune, Noni is desperately unhappy. With her purple weave and eye-catching yet barely there attire, she's a clear parallel of Nicki Minaj or Little Kim (depending on your generation). After smashing a second-place trophy won at a low-rent kids talent show, the plot cuts to the crotch of grown-up Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) flaunting and pouting in a steamy music video for a tatted-out white rapper (Machine Gun Kelly). Its story begins with a young Noni Jean-like Marilyn Monroe's Norma Jean, get it? She's a biracial British girl with a big voice, raggedy clothes, and a white stage mom (Minnie Driver) who refuses to let the world ignore her baby's talents. Written and director by The Secret Life of Bees's Gina Prince-Bythewood, Beyond The Lights plays like a VH1 biopic, full of the kind of saucy sex appeal and subdued scandal that can play on cable any time of the day.