Doing Life 2026 Movie Review
For his third movie of 2026, writer/director Tyler Perry is looking to step away from his previous efforts that celebrated wild comedy (“Joe’s College Road Trip”) and anarchic relationship dysfunction (“Why Did I Get Married Again?”). He hopes to get small and sensitive with “Doing Life,” which examines the developing trust and romance between an ex-convict and a single mother who’s been burned by life too many times. It’s a traditional Perry-branded melodrama featuring broad characters and strained communication issues, lubed up with a few turns of trauma to keep audiences involved in the strain of such a union. Simplicity is the goal here, but Perry loses his way with the crudeness of the script, basically filming a middle school play with the endeavor, which fails to connect as a heartening tale of bonding and responsibility.
Anika (Naomi Baker) is an employee at the Holloway State Correctional Facility, dreaming of a future at nursing school while pregnant with her first child. During a late night shift, a prison riot breaks out, putting Anika in harm’s way. She’s offered protection by Carousel (Jay Reeves), her admirer, who saves her from harm. A short time later, Anika is dealing with life as a single mother to baby Nia, working in a gas station while taking care of her sickly mother, Cathy (Tamberla Perry). She begins to receive letters from Carousel, who’s looking to connect with her, and the pair soon embark on a relationship that eventually graduates to phone calls, sharing their hopes and fears. When Carousel is released from prison, he meets with Anika, hoping to take their connection to the next level as he puts his life back together. Cathy is horrified by the idea, while Anika’s sisters, Trina (Karen Obilom) and Lisa (Jasmine Sargent), try to disrupt their sibling’s happiness, creating doubt about Carousel’s character as he fights to prove his worth.
“Doing Life” opens with some roughness that’s not the Perry norm. We follow Anika into work, where she oversees the opening and closing of cell doors. Trouble with the inmates causes confusion, and soon a full riot breaks out, or as much of a riot as this low-budget endeavor can afford. The inmates look to Anika for sexual satisfaction, but Carousel manages to protect the young woman, taking a beating in the process. It’s not exactly a meet cute, but it’ll have to do in a Perry screenplay, though the pair go their separate ways, with Anika off to deal with her new baby, with the child’s father exiting the situation. “Doing Time” sets up a separate incarceration idea for the characters, as Carousel is trying to get through his days, looking to art and legal books to clear his mind. Anika struggles with a horrible job and a dying mother, also stuck when she desires to be free.
A relationship forms between the pair once Carousel finds Anika through his letters. This is confessional-type correspondence, with the prisoner sharing his past as a teen gangbanger locked up for attempted murder. Anika provides some insight into her nursing dream and frustrations with Cathy, who’s not only at death’s door, but a legal fight with her malicious employer might never find resolution. The twosome develop comfort through letters and phone calls, and “Doing Time” eventually has the characters meeting in person, putting Carousel on a quest to keep Anika comfortable with him. Sweetness is intended, but this is Perry, who doesn’t have a gift for writing human dialogue. Stiffness is found instead, watching Carousel and Anika learn to trust and, eventually, love, while the single mother wrestles with her secret relationship, afraid to tell Cathy.
Perry loves cliches, but he mercifully avoids a few in “Doing Time,” including Anika’s need for quick cash to attend nursing school, conveniently dating a former criminal. The picture changes focus to Carousel’s push to win over Cathy, helping the ailing woman who dismissively nicknames him “convict.” And there’s trouble from Lisa and especially Trina, who emerge as villains, working to poison their sister’s relationship, but doing so without necessary fury. Instead, there’s Perry-branded flatness (and awkward sensuality), with the quickie production relying on obvious conflicts and sudden turns of fortune to find a conclusion. “Doing Life” doesn’t have the nuance needed for these characters and their struggles, keeping Perry in Crayola Mode as his actors attempt to register emotion while dealing with robotic writing.
