First Match

First Match is a 2018 American drama film written and directed by Olivia Newman, based on her 2010 short film of the same name. The film stars Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome, and Jared Kemp. The film premiered at the 2018 South by Southwest festival on March 12 where it won the Audience Award and the LUNA/Gamechanger Award. It was then released on Netflix on March 30, 2018.^[1][2][3]

First Match
Film poster
Directed by	Olivia Newman
Written by	Olivia Newman
Produced by	Chanelle Elaine Veronica Nickel Bryan Unkeless
Starring	Elvire Emmanuelle Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Colman Domingo Jharrel Jerome Jared Kemp
Cinematography	Ashley Connor
Edited by	Tamara Meem
Music by	Olivier Alary
Production company	Clubhouse Pictures
Distributed by	Netflix
Release dates	March 12, 2018 (2018-03-12) (South by Southwest) March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30) (Netflix)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Cast

• Elvire Emanuelle as Monique
• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Darrel, Monique's father
• Colman Domingo as Coach Castile
• Jharrel Jerome as Omari
• Jared Kemp as Malik
• Allen Maldonado as Juan

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85%, based on 20 reviews, and an average rating of 7.3/10.^[4]