You Tryna Say You Love Me? (2026) – Review and Summary | Tribeca Film Festival

A first date goes beyond the superficial as intentions are made clear in You Tryna Say You Love Me.

ByAmari Hours Posted on

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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“You Tryna Say You Love Me” Film Details

Movie Summary

Gerard and Chloe are on their first date. However, with Gerard being someone who grew up with the example that actions speak louder than words, it makes the language major Chloe uncertain of Gerard’s intentions. Thus leading to this maybe being over before it even started.

Cast and Characters

Gerard (Asante Blackk)

  • Character Summary: An athlete, specifically a diver, who is trying to navigate his life being in a transitional stage, and how Chloe played a part in him reconciling who he was with who he is becoming.

Chloe (Malia Pyles)

  • Character Summary: A language major, specifically Arabic, whose way with words has seemingly enchanted Gerard. But, while both speak English, his vocabulary, or lack thereof, regarding what he asked her out for, puzzles her to the point of questioning if it is a red flag.

Review and Commentary

Highlight(s)

Actions vs. Words [88/100]

What is beautifully crafted in You Tryna Say You Love Me is how much effort there is in establishing who both of these people are, without having to overdo it. On top of that, how their upbringing, or who they are trying to become, is affecting the date and the conversation they are having.

Gerard is someone who grew up in a household that wasn’t overtly affectionate. He presents the idea that his mom wasn’t touchy-feely, didn’t say I love you much, but was dedicated to her son’s success. So even if he never heard how she loved her son, her actions made it clear. You can see Gerard presenting that as normal and acceptable, which Chloe disagrees with.

Not because she is a young woman who needs the reassurance, but because she understands the power of words. Also, Gerard himself creates the perception he understands too, with noting how humanity has sought language, and created new words and phrases to be better able to say how they feel. Thus showing he understands the concepts of why words matter, even if he struggles to speak on those that pertain to his own feelings.

Watching him navigate interacting with a woman who isn’t willing to let him off easy and be with her due to him thinking she is cute, but wanting something deeper, is what is going to make you love these two and their potential.

The Importance Of The Slap Game [85/100]

What tops it all off, though, is this slap game. It’s the one where you hover your hands over another person, and one tries to hit the other, and the other tries to dodge it. It triggered memories of Janet Mock’s first book and how she spoke about playing Truth or Dare with a friend, and how that builds trust and sets the tone for intimacy.

In my mind, Chloe, who admittedly was fearful of Gerard doing or saying something to hurt her, seemingly wanted to see if he not only trusted himself but also her. So, what better game to see how jittery he is, whether he would trust her enough to maybe tap him, but not take things too far? For she does make a comment that opened a wound, so the slap game does help to see if there is enough trust there to recover.

Side Note

Ambiguous Ending

Things are left open-ended in a way that is frustrating. There is no clear sign of what is next for these two, and considering how giddy and how vulnerable you see Gerard become, you don’t want this to go wrong. Which isn’t to say you don’t give a damn about Chloe, but it is clear by the end that, as much as she talks about being able to trust him, she clearly is the one with the power by the end of the conversation.

Overall

Our Rating (86/100): Positive (Worth Seeing) – Recommended

I need this to be a pitch that gets expanded on. What Blackk and Pyles deliver, under the writing and direction of Molbak, in 11 minutes, took my emotions on a ride. From Gerard opening up, to Chloe not only being a catalyst but seemingly willing to sit with him in that awkward stage of being vulnerable with a stranger, things can’t end as they do.

Hence, this being labeled worth seeing if available, and one of the first recommendations I think we’ve had in a while, points-wise. You Tryna Say You Love Me? It isn’t as flirtatious as the title sounds, but a genuine question made for those who know what love can feel like but struggle to translate that to words people can hear.

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